


purple flowers of drongar

by diashann



Series: The Uplander [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, I don't know why I wrote this, Multi, Other, Spoilers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Spoilers, Takes place after Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), this is d u m b
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:19:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13138938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diashann/pseuds/diashann
Summary: During the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple, Kylo Ren unknowingly spared one of the other students. Or did he?





	1. characters




	2. phase me out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> musical influence for this chapter: phase me out x vérité

 

The minute he decided to meld and become one with the Force, she felt it. She felt this great sense of purpose and that he was at peace, and yet she still couldn’t allow herself to let him go. It was as if it wasn’t yet his time to go. As if she were born for the very task of pulling him back through the veil, in that very moment. Her eyes closed, and for the first time in fifteen years, she felt herself slip and become apart of something that had terrified her. “Luke,” she whispered, her body levitating from the palace floor where she sat cross-legged. The Force vibrated and she expected to be met with open arms, but instead she hit something that felt like an invisible wall. “What are you doing here?” Asked a voice from behind her, a voice she had not heard in a long time, a voice she didn’t expect.

“I’ve come to bring him back,” she whispered harshly, eyebrows furrowing as she turned around.

Her grandfather’s force ghost stood facing her in the endless void, nothing but the Force surrounding them. Somehow, she didn’t feel as threatened as she should. She had a feeling he’d let her get what she wanted, as if prophesized. “I admit, he was not ready to cross over and exist in the way that we do…”

“We?” She asked, scouring the void for signs of other life forms.

Mace smiled faintly at the quizzical expression on her face. “You can’t see them, but they are here. Only I have made myself visible to you, because I thought you were surely lost.”

The young woman shook her head, “I’m here for my Master.”

“He isn’t your Master anymore.”

"Be that as it may, I have come to bring him back. We have yet to reach the turn of the war, and though I have been sitting idly by, I believe we will need him yet,” She said, eyes hard and her stance unwavering.

Mace folded his arms, his aura brightening, “Maeve… it is not an easy feat, bringing someone back to the corporeal. You do know that you must give something of yourself.” His eyebrows raised and she nodded in response to his words. She knew what the cost was, but in that moment she didn’t care. Maeve didn’t want to live in a world where Kylo Ren existed and Luke Skywalker did not.

She would give anything to bring him back into the fold.

Before either of them could say anything else, Mace was departing like fallen leaves in the wind. Then everything shifted and she was transported to Force knows where, finding Luke sitting beneath a tree. She approached him as slowly as she possibly could, watching the man as he appeared to be deep in meditation. Just as she reached him, his eyes shot open. “Maeve?” He asked, eyes filled with sorrow. There was an unspoken question and she simply shook her head in reply.

“What are you doing here, then?” His voice was gruff.

She stuck her hand out to him and he took it. After helping him stand, she stared up at him. “I… I’ve come to bring you back. The Resistance needs you.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you know about the Resistance? Since the Jedi died out, you’ve been hiding away in your kingdom…” He said, almost too serenely. Maeve looked as if she’d been physically struck. “I didn’t have a choice, that choice was made for me,” She snapped, eyes hard.

He sighed, stepping around her, walking toward a beautiful meadow. The landscape stretched on infinitely, something about their surroundings stuck her as vaguely familiar.. almost like from a dream she’d once had. She took a step toward the meadow and realized a shoreline wasn’t too far away, and when her eyes almost caught a glimpse of what her mind was nagging her to find, he stepped in front of her as if to block her from something. “Even if I wanted to go back, there isn’t a way.”

She was startled to say the least, eyes slightly widening before recovering, “There is one way…”

He raised his eyebrows at her, turning his back on her soon after, “No.”

“It.. we just have to strengthen our Force bond… it’s easy, you know how easy it is.”

“I also know that it's… risky, to say the least” He said, inwardly questioning whether he should finally get the rest he deserved or if he should go back and continue to fight the good fight. Though he felt at peace when he became one with the Force, he still couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he hadn’t exactly done all that he was supposed to do with his life.

“Fine,” he answered her, closing his eyes as she stepped closer to him. She moved her shaking hands to the opening of his robes and pushed them open. She let out an uneasy breath and they were suddenly in a room, a room that reminded her a lot of the huts from the training base where she used to be his Padawan. He was standing in front of her, eyes still closed, breathing as even as could be. His robes hit the floor with a small thud. She didn’t take her eyes away from his face, her hands smoothing over his chest.

After a few more moments of working up the nerve, Maeve moved her hands to her own body and immediately discarded her simple night gown. It hit the ground, making not a single sound. She moved her hand to his arm to steady herself, stepping out of her gown and kicking it across the room. Luke slowly opened his eyes and looked down at her, keeping his sights on her face. “You can look at me,” she whispered, almost too nervous to speak. His bright blue eyes roamed her body, it was a quick scan but something about it gave her the courage to give him a once-over. He exhaled obnoxiously loud and she smirked, pulling him over to the bed that resembled the one he used to sleep in. The Master’s bed was way bigger than the cots of the Padawan.

Luke sat down on the edge of the bed and she lingered in front of him. “You can touch me,” she said softly, looking down at him. Neither of them really knew where to put their hands but she was ready to get this over with. The sooner they made a connection between his ethereal body and her corporeal one, the sooner she could use their link to pass him back onto her side of the veil. After a few moments of his eyes scanning her naked body, he decided to hesitantly place his hands on her silky brown skin. Her breath hitched as she watched and felt him running his hands up her thick thighs. His hands moved up slowly and around to the curve of her rear. Both his good hand and his metal one cupped onto her round ass, making her moan and throw her head back.

He stopped what he was doing immediately, “Maeve… this is… we can’t..”

She looked down at him again, her fingers moving to his lips to shush him. He gulped, eyes blown out with lust. Maeve straddled his lap, her fingers leaving his lips so that she could replace them with her own. She kissed him tenderly and slowly, not wanting to rush him. He moaned against her mouth and pulled her closer to him, both of their eyes shut tight, breathing ragged, their hands wandering over the planes of each other’s bodies. Luke started to pull away from her, feeling her wetness drip onto his lap, his eyes wide when he finally got a little distance between them. Maeve ground herself against him, his arousal hard and obvious beneath her. As she moved, Luke tried to stifle his surprise and his moan, his good hand catching her hip and gripping at it. “Maeve…” he said, his tone unfamiliar. “Luke..” She replied, in a sexy rasp, her eyes scanning his.

When he said nothing more, she slowly rubbed herself against his erection, deliciously coating him with her arousal. The action caused him to close his eyes and pant, parts of him awakening that had been dormant for so long. She leaned forward and captured his lips with hers, reaching down between them, her hand catching onto his impressive length almost immediately. After giving him a few strokes, she lifted slightly, mentally preparing herself for the grave violation they were about to so willingly commit. Luke was all but crying out, his pleasure palpable, and Maeve could only imagine how long it had been since he’d actually been with a woman. She pulled away from their kiss and was surprised when Luke automatically started kissing at her neck, jawline, and collar bone. She tilted her hips and aligned him with her entrance, pressing his thick manhood into her slick opening. 

“Slow…” She cooed shakily, more to herself than to him, sliding down onto his length. She and Luke let out loud and undignified moans, his hands roaming her like it’s what they were made to do. She took him all the way in and then took a moment to adjust, the pleasure almost too much to handle. It was then that Maeve decided corporeal sex had nothing on what she was currently experiencing, the delicious feeling of being stretched and filled increased tenfold, courtesy of the Force and the connection between them; Master and Student. Luke grabbed hold of her hips and pulled them in an attempt to get her to move, Maeve obliged, slowly rising and falling on his thick and throbbing erection. He threw his head back, whines of ecstasy falling from him. “Yes, Luke…” She moaned, shuddering lightly as she started to pick up her pace. Her fingernails dug into his shoulder and she started to roll her hips. “Kriff....” He cried, moving forward to lean his forehead against hers. He situated his hand in a white-knuckle grip on her hip and placed his metal hand on the back of her head, lovingly.

As the tension built, he noticed the worn out look on her face. He had almost reached his climax twice, but she would stop and find ways to prolong it because she didn’t want the encounter to end. He stroked her hair and thrusted up into her ever-so-slightly, making her groan, both their bodies covered in a sheen of sweat. “Are you going to come for me?” He asked in a gruff voice, thrusting upward again, interrupting her steady yet lazy hip roll. Another pleasured sound escaped her, her eyes opening to look deep into his. “Luke…” she keened, and he didn’t need to be a genius to know what she was begging for. He pulled out of her abruptly and gently threw her back onto the bed. Before she could even think he was above her, roughly entering her, causing her to throw her head back and grab hold of the bed sheets. He clutched one of her thighs with his real hand and pulled it close to his side, his mechanical hand holding him steady above her as he pounded inside her relentlessly. “Yes… yes,” she cried, her toes curling as her walls tightened and she was sent over the edge. Luke was right behind her, groaning long and loud as he released his seed inside of her.

Maeve’s eyes shot open and she fell to the palace floor with a loud thud.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Rey sat up abruptly, waking from her sleep with a yelp. She could feel a slight shift in the Force. As she sat up, panting and sweaty, she heard someone come into her chambers with the swoosh of her door. She looked up and was met with Leia’s worried face. ‘Should we change course?’ Rey asked with her mind, and Leia responded with a stiff nod.

The Millennium Falcon reached Ahch-To just a few hours later and Rey was practically buzzing. No one could get a word out of Leia or Rey in regards to where they were heading or why. So, imagine the surprise of everyone else when they landed and set foot onto the island where the great Luke Skywalker had once exiled himself. Rey bolted past everyone, heading straight for the plume of smoke that was rising into the air. When she finally reached her destination, she came to an abrupt halt, eyes wide as she saw her Master hunched over a fire. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon, and the island was more or less exactly how she had remembered it.

“I’m gone for one day and you’re already an emotional wreck…” He droned, not even bothering to look up at the girl.

Rey looked at him, confusion in her eyes, “One day? Master… you’ve been gone for almost five months.”

Luke looked up at her words, his face steely and demeanor completely changed. He blinked a few times, thinking about how it must’ve taken a while for him to slip back through the veil. It seemed like mere moments since he’d… Maeve. He stood abruptly, and as he did, the others had finally caught up to Rey. Poe, Finn, Rose, and Leia had come down a hill, the twins locking eyes. Luke immediately blocked off his emotions and thoughts. Rey looked at him confused, having caught the tail end of what he was thinking. “Who… who’s Maeve?” She asked. Leia stepped closer to the two, leaving the others to straggle behind. Luke avoided his sister’s gaze, a long silence passing over all of them.

When he finally met eyes with Leia, his face was emotionless. “We have to go to Haruun Kal,” He said, starting to walk toward the Falcon. Leia raised an eyebrow and caught his arm as he tried to pass her, “Why? After the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Korunnai were destroyed.” The confusion was clear on his sister’s face and he immediately guessed that the Resistance had been far too busy trying to survive to bother themselves with the goings of a Mid Rim planet. How would Leia know that after 28 ABY, one of his students father’s would return home to a planet that was long-ago destroyed and restructure their long-broken way of life. The Korrunai were long dead but a few remained, scattered across the galaxy, and it was Ghosh Windu’s wish to bring them home. 

“We have to seek counsel with Princess Maeve,” He stated simply, gently tugging himself free from her hold, carrying on toward the Falcon.

Rey turned around to face Leia, a stunned look on her face. She ran after Luke, hoping he’d explain what the hell was going on sooner rather than later.

Leia and the others followed suit.

Chewie started up the engines once everyone was back on board. Rey was on Luke’s heels, ever the eager student. “How are you back?” She asked, everything about her thrumming and alive. Luke shot her an annoyed side-glance from his place near the doorway to the cockpit. “I am not entirely sure… but something in the Force is telling me to go see-“

“The Princess of Haruun Kal?” Rey asked. Luke would have been impressed with her ability to remember names and places if not for the fact that it was annoying the shit out of him at present. He gave a stiff nod. “How do you know her?” Rey asked, bombarding him with yet another question. “She was a student…” He said, almost too aloof. Rey squinted, “She was your Padawan?” Luke only nodded, his demeanor seeming even more guarded when Leia walked up and requested her brother accompany her to the Main Hold. He obliged, Rey right on his heels.

“Excuse me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it against the rules? Royalty training to be Jedi? Aren’t you meant to choose?” Rey asked, entering the Main Hold, rounding Luke and Leia and heading for a place to sit. Luke sighed, shot his sister a look, and then looked back at Rey. “Yes, precisely. But… Maeve was a special case. She had an unusually high midi-chlorian count, like my father. She was born to become a Jedi Knight, which wasn’t really a surprise, considering who her grand-father was.” Luke and Leia sat wherever they could get in, other members of The Resistance lounging about. Poe Dameron was tinkering with something, BB8 chirping at his side; Finn and Rose were chatting animatedly; And his pupil was staring at him thoughtfully.

“So, after the Jedi were wiped out she went back to become a ruler?” Rey asked, genuinely curious about this girl he had never so much as even mentioned.

Luke took pause. “Not exactly…” His brow furrowed as he thought of the best way to arrange his next words, “She wasn’t exactly born into a royal lineage, per se. The Kingdom wasn’t established until later, by her father Merrick. Since the force-sensitive tribesmen known as the Korunnai were destroyed, Merrick had to rebuild their society and chose to do so in a way that mirrored that of other civilizations; he created a monarchy. He did this with the help of Balawai, outsiders who wished to help rebuild the unique society in exchange for a place to settle. Haruun Kal has become something of a melting-pot, mostly full of people who lean in favor of The Resistance.”

Rey’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me about her before? About any of this?”

He swallowed thickly, eyes hard, “I was trying to keep Maeve safe. Kylo doesn’t know she survived, and if he even suspects that one of my other students is still out there, he’ll hunt her down. That’s good for neither Maeve or her people; Especially since they’re allies to The Resistance, mostly on their terms, but they help when they feel they really need to by way of other planets and colonies. They’re trying to stay off of the First Order’s radar.”

Poe snorted softly, not even looking up from his task as he said, “That would explain why they didn’t come help us, back on Crait. Touché.”

“We should be arriving there just before dinner,” Leia stated, shortly after clearing her throat, ignoring Poe’s snide remark.

Rey chimed in with, “How promising is she, exactly?”

Though he was slightly taken aback, Luke could understand his student’s sudden curiosity. “Maeve… she has a sort of discipline I’ve never seen. We didn’t get to hone into much of anything all those years ago, but I imagine with a bit of coaxing, she would have been stronger than Kylo. There are a lot of things that hinder her, though, a lot of things repressed. I don’t know if she’ll ever reach her full potential.”

“Well… she can’t now, can she?”

Luke paused for a moment, everyone looking up to see what he’d say, what emotions on his face would betray him. “If the Jedi were to return, Maeve would have to return to the fold.”

“There’s two of us, not including her, as far as we know. Isn’t that enough?” Rey asks. Everyone glances between the two Jedi, taking in every bit of their exchange.

Luke mulled over her question, or at least he pretended to. “Possibly. But she’s next in the line of succession. Her father died a while back and her mother has been the interim ruler. Maeve is currently training to take the throne.”

“So, if we aren’t going to fetch her… why are we going?” Poe asks, so softly that Rey wonders if Luke can even hear the other man.

Luke furrowed his brow for a kilo second. “The Force is leading me to her.” He stood and Leia followed after him almost immediately, cornering him in the corridor that led to the crew quarters. “When were you going to tell me?” She asked him, her eyes hard and anger radiating from her. Luke looked down at her, not a single crack in his calm exterior, “I told you, I was trying to keep her safe. She’s had her hands full these past fifteen years and I have been isolated on an island, Leia.” She folded her arms and he knew that his excuses would not satisfy her. “You know what she meant to him,” Leia droned. Luke nodded stiffly, letting his mind wander back to when she first came out of hiding and was sent to train with him.

  
_“Master Skywalker,” said a girl of only thirteen after bounding up to him, bowing before the man and legend she had heard bedtimes stories about._

_He looked down at her, suppressing a smile as he stood face-to-face with a girl who— by all rights — shouldn’t have even existed. For one, she was Korrunai and they had all reportedly been destroyed two decades prior. Another thing counting against her was that her father was the lovechild of a Jedi Champion. Mace Windu, according to Yoda, was one of the men who opposed greatly to the union of his own mother and father. This girls existence defied logic, just as his did._

_“Maeve,” he said with a slight bow of his own, signaling that she could stand up straight again._

_She gave him a smirk, even then, her eager eyes ready for anything he could throw her way._

 

* * *

* * *

 

It had been five months since Maeve bound herself to Luke Skywalker. Since then, she’d felt nothing… mostly nothing. But everything changed just before sunrise, that morning, she felt a very distinct shift in the Force. All through the day, she waited with bated breath; waited for him to show up. He probably wouldn’t remember what happened, memories seldom survived the journey back through the veil. However, their bond was strong and the Force would, without a doubt, lead him to her palace.

“Maeve dear, are you ready for this evenings festivities? You’ve trained and worked so hard, I do believe you deserve to have another one of your infamous gatherings.” She exhaled sharply, her eyes meeting her mother’s in the mirror she stood in front of. “I’m absolutely ecstatic, mother,” Maeve lied.

“What will the theme be? I feel like I’m always the last to know…”

She turned around to face her mother directly, walking over to her slowly. “Well, I saw this crazy thing in a history book. It’s sort of like a lounging party. The people used to call them sloomber parties, I think. All of my guests will sleep over afterward.”

Her mother raised a perfectly arched blonde eyebrow, a smirk on her face. “Seems a bit archaic, but if it’s truly what you want, I’ll go along with it.”

Maeve rolled her eyes, turning away from her mother to finish picking out her evening attire. “Was there something else you wanted to talk about, mother?” She asked, still feeling her mother’s lingering presence.

The thin fair-skinned woman cleared her throat before going to perch atop her daughter’s bed. “Well, you are approaching your twenty-eighth year of life… and with that age comes a great pressure to have a child. After you’re crowned, I want to start requesting counsel with suitors…” Maeve’s entire demeanor changed, it was subtle enough for her mother not to notice and gloss over it completely, but her tone was completely different. “Thank you for the fair warning, mother.”

A silence fell over them both and before either could say something they’d regret, Zahra Windu was gracefully sweeping her way out of her daughter’s private wing. 

Maeve heaved a sigh of relief.

No sooner than she allowed herself to relax, she felt a strong presence. “Luke,” she whispered to herself, her handmaiden entering the room to announce that dinner would be ready soon and that the palace had off-world visitors for the first time since her father had passed. She nodded at her ladies maid, excusing her from the room. She sighed, nerves building up all of a sudden, too fast for her to stop it. She felt sick, her hand gently rubbing across the tiny abdominal bump that she wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer.

 

“It is very gracious of you to host us, especially on such short notice,” Leia said to Zahra, a genuine smile on her face. The two dignified women clasped hands and doted heavily on one another. Luke, Rey, Poe, Finn, and Rose all stood off to the side, trying their best not to cause any trouble. All while Leia and Zahra re-acquainted themselves, the tall blondes eyes always managed to find Luke. She was sending him a look that, if given a moment to fester, would transform into the kind that would strike fear into a man. She knew why he was there, and no amount of Leia’s schmoozing could hide that.

“What brings you all to our kingdom in the sky?” She finally asks, breaking away from Leia’s blatant diversion.

Luke moved forward to speak, but before he can get a word out, Maeve descended the grand staircase off to the right. He could make out what she’s wearing in his peripheral and he gulped. Maeve was immaculately dressed, as any Princess greeting guests should be; she wore a flowing sparkly dress, slightly similar to the one her mother donned. Together, they looked like a sun and moon; Zahra in gold to match her elaborate crown; Maeve in silver to match her dainty silver tiara, that slightly resembled foliage, atop her head. 

Maeve’s brown tresses splayed around her shoulders in loose waves, her bosom ample and it took everything in Luke not to look at her inappropriately. Why would his former student make him feel such a way? He cleared his throat. Maeve eyed all of the visitors, her eyebrow arched up expectantly. Immediately understanding the displeasure on her face, Luke bowed to her and the others followed suit.

“Maeve, you look absolutely stunning,” Leia said after bowing to her. Maeve smiled. “I wish I could say the same for more than one of you,” She said through her teeth, trying to be polite. “Darling, why don’t you show our guests to their wing? Have one of your ladies maids tidy them up?” Her blue eyes were alight and Maeve glanced at each of the guests, stopping on Luke for a moment longer than the others. She cleared her throat and turned on her heels, “Follow me, then.”

Rey, Poe, Finn, and Rose hurried after Maeve. Once they reached the guest wing, she had one of the ladies maids help Rose and Rey into a washroom and requested another maid to get them something suitable from her old and out-of-date wardrobe. The ladies were bustling around as her valet entered the room and she immediately told him to help Finn and Poe into another washroom. “What should they wear, Your Highness?” She paused for a moment, dread filing her as she fixed her mouth to say what she knew she must, “Get them something from Father’s things, Mother won’t mind.”

At her words, the valet nodded solemnly before springing into action. Her mother’s valet came to find her as she was exiting the guest wing, she smiled at him but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Following behind him were Luke and Leia. Maeve held her breath for a fraction of a moment before greeting the pair again, her hands linked behind her back. “I’ve got your crew getting cleaned up. I imagine my mother has her valet tending to you,” she said, her eyes moving to Luke. She gave him a not-so-subtle once-over, clearly not pleased with his ratty robes or his unkempt hair and beard. Leia stifled a laugh.

Luke glared at his sister before bringing his attention back to his former student, noticing that she had changed so much; grown so much. She was far from the thirteen year old Padawan he remembered. Maeve had become a woman, standing before him, so regal and strong. The valet cleared his throat and Maeve flicked her eyes between he and Luke. “Looks like it’s time for you to get cleaned up, Master Skywalker,” She said matter-of-factly, walking around him to go tend to other things.

"I’ve always liked her…” Leia said, a smug smile on her face. Her brother ignored her, going with the valet who seemed to be losing his patience.

As soon as Maeve was back in her wing, she let her emotions come rolling out of her. She had been hiding so much and holding so much in for the past few months, but the moment she saw him she just couldn’t do it anymore. She felt the dams breaking. Placing a loving hand over her well-hidden bump, she let the presence of her child calm her. She was thankful that the cut of her dress hid her growing secret so well, but she’d have to work double time to keep Luke from sensing it. And that younger Jedi, also…

“Dinner is on the table, Your Highness,” called a handmaiden from the hallway. Maeve wiped away her tiny tears, straightening up and turning to make her way down to the dining hall.

Everyone was all freshened up, sitting and engaging in polite conversation with the Queen. As Maeve rounded the corner, she paused, her sights on the men who were wearing her father’s clothing. Her eyes widened a fraction as they landed on Poe and Finn, but what really got to her was seeing Luke Skywalker with a haircut and trimmed beard. He was starting to look more like a Jedi Master and less like a hermit, the mere sight of him turning her on to no avail. She had to force her eyes away from him, a smirk on her face.

Everyone stood from their seats to welcome her to the table, she nodded at them. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she noticed she’d been strategically assigned the seat at the head of the table, opposite her mother, Luke and Leia on either side of her. She gathered her wits and found her way to her seat. “What have I missed, aside from everyone receiving their first bath in months?” She asked, her face emotionless. Rose chuckled because she couldn’t tell if Maeve was being serious or not. Maeve looked up from the napkin she placed in her lap, giving the girl a hard glare. Luke interjected, clearing his throat. “Your Majesty was just inquiring about why we’re here,” he said, moving his fork around his plate. Maeve started cutting at the meat on her plate, her eyes hesitant to move over to him but they fell onto his face anyway. “And what are you doing here, Master Skywalker?”

At her question, something deep within him stirred and he didn’t know how to feel about it. He looked at her lips for a millisecond, his eyes unwavering as they met with hers. “The Force led me here and I wanted to know why…” He said, shocking her with his honesty. Maeve broke their eye contact, hoping it didn’t come off as intimate to bystanders. She set her sights on her mother, all the way at the other end of the table. “Well, isn’t that quaint,” Her mother said, clearly displeased. “I suggest you save this until after dinner. You’ll have a few hours of downtime before the event starts.”

Maeve had almost completely forgotten about her party. She could slap herself. She nodded at her mothers words, going back to that task of eating what was on her plate, her stomach churning as she eyed the meal. There couldn’t have been a worse time to have any food aversions, but it would seem that her baby didn’t care. Dropping her cutlery, she immediately snapped for one of the kitchen maids and a short dark-haired woman bustled over to her. Maeve whispered into the woman’s ear, requesting something else and asking that the plate before her be disposed of. The maid set to work immediately and Maeve did her best to act as if what was happening was normal. “Something wrong with your food, dear?” Her mother asked after taking a sip of wine. She gulped and met the hard gaze of the woman who gave her life. “No one cleared this meal with me, is all. I don’t exactly have a taste for this, mother,” She said, the agitation clear in her voice. Luke and Leia gave each other a look across the table, establishing that something was definitely amiss.

The kitchen maid came back soon after with a different meal, setting a bowl before the Princess. “Thank you, Alora,” she muttered, the maid visibly shocked Her Highness remembered her by name as she backed away. “Is that…” Luke looked over into the bowl of his former student. She picked up her spoon, avoiding his gaze, “Hmm??”

He paused for a second before pressing, “Is that Root Leaf Stew?” Maeve stirred her spoon around in the bowl, readying herself to eat it, her eyes meeting his from her place sitting beside him. “Why, yes, yes it is,” she says, eating some of it out of the bowl, her cheeks a bit rosy and her face looking pleased. Luke squinted at her. Never had he seen someone enjoy that chit, and he swore he’d never subject his students to eating it the way Yoda made him. So, how had Maeve discovered and come to love such an atrocious meal?

“That’s all you ever seem to eat anymore. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were still on a Jedi’s diet and this crew was here to take you away from me, again…” Her mother said. The words came out sounding light-hearted, but Maeve could see the light leave her mother’s eyes. She drank more of her Root Leaf Stew, purposefully trying to avoid her mother and her hysterics. After she was done with the food, she stood up, readying herself to be excused from the table. Everyone stood along with her. “It was lovely dining with all of you, and feel free to stay however long you like… make yourselves at home,” Maeve said, her eyes finding each of them, a sincere smile on her face. “I’m off to get into my leisure clothes… Luke, Leia, I’ll meet you both in the courtyard.”

Before either twin could answer her, she was leaving the room. In her wake, everyone sat back down and continued to eat.

 

After getting changed into some riding pants and a flowing tunic, the Princess made her way down to the courtyard. To Luke, she was still a vision, even when she was dressed down. Her crown was still nestled atop her head and a small smile was on her face. “Care to accompany me to the stables?” She asked Luke and Leia, her hands joined behind her back. The siblings nodded and they all started walking toward the far end of the palace grounds. “I have a few Fathiers that need to be fed and could use some attention. I so love going to see them, I’m sure you both will appreciate it, as well…” the Princess said, the silence becoming too much for her to bear. Luke looked at her and smiled, she returned the show of kindness.

Silence weighed heavily upon the trio all the way to the stables, and upon reaching said destination, Maeve cleared her throat. “So, since you lot aren’t exactly talkative tonight… maybe I should start by asking what you’re really doing here,” She said, avoiding both their gazes, immediately setting to work with feeding and tending to her animals.

She looked etherial, other-worldly, and extremely breath-taking in that moment, the light of the moons shining into the stables and onto her. Luke held his breath until he realized Leia was looking at him, waiting for him to answer the inquiry at hand. “I need to know what happened… And I need to know that Kylo doesn’t suspect you’re alive.”

She was slightly surprised at his words, being sure to keep her face passive as she said, “Well, you probably led him straight to me… though, if you had, I imagine we’d know by now.” She smiled over at Luke before turning her attention back to the Fathier who was enjoying getting chin scratches. “As far as what happened… you became one with the Force… and I went in after you.” Maeve stopped attending to the animal and called over a stable boy to finish up, taking off her gloves and walking over to where Luke and Leia seemed to be rooted.

He searched her eyes to see if what she was saying was true, but he didn’t have to look too far. If the inappropriate feelings that dwelled inside of him were any indication, she was telling the truth. He gulped and she gave him and small smile. “I just didn’t feel safe… Kylo being out there and you, not being there if I needed you,” Her eyes watered and she looked down at her feet, clearly ashamed of what she’d done. “I know you don’t remember, but you agreed to come back…” She added, voice soft and trembling with fear for how he was going to react. Leia’s eyes were wide and Luke stared off into space.

Even Leia knew there was only one way to bring him back from where he’d been; they had to bind themselves together via the Force.

“We didn’t….” The words left Luke, just barely.

Maeve lifted her head and met eyes with him, trying to hide her shame. “There was no other way, Luke… I…”

Before she could finish explaining, he was walking away. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to throw something at him.

Her hand absently ghosted her small abdominal bump and Leia’s eyes caught the action. A gasp left the older woman’s lips and startled Maeve, who was placing her hands behind her back in an instant.

“Are you…” She didn’t even get the sentence out before Maeve was running after Luke.

She caught up to him in the courtyard and reached her hand out to grab his arm. When they touched it was like fireworks went off inside their chests, It almost left her breathless, and he was turning around to look at her with anger in his eyes. “How could you do it?” He asked, voice full of sadness. “I couldn’t let you go,” she cried softly, tears forming in her eyes. “I know it was selfish, but you have always been the only thing standing between he and I…”

They stood in the empty courtyard, brown eyes meeting blue. “And now…” She placed her hand on her stomach, almost scared to see his reaction, “Now you’re the only thing standing between him and us…” Luke froze, his eyes going down to her bump. He hadn’t noticed it before, the Force dwelling within her, figuring she must have gone to great lengths so that he wouldn’t. “I can’t stay here… I can’t doom my child to a life that wasn’t meant for them. We are Jedi, the both of us,” She says it with such finality that it scares him. “She’ll never let you go…” Luke whispers.

“She will if she reads this,” Maeve pulls a letter out of her pocket, it has visible signs of wear and tear and Force knows how old it is.

 

* * *

* * *

 

At the party, Luke and Leia stayed as far away from Maeve as they possibly could. The Princess mixed and mingled and tried to come up with a way to subtly set her plan in motion. Just a few hours earlier, she and Luke had talked things over in one of the many courtyard corridors.

_“What is this?” He asked her, eyes wide and he pulled her aside for more privacy. They were nestled into a corridor that led to the palace wine cellar, it was covered with vine and string lights. Under other circumstances, it might have been seen as romantic, the way he towered over her with his hand gripping her wrist gently._

_She stared up into his eyes, almost completely losing herself to the thought of being back in his bed. She cleared her throat, carefully prying his hand off of her, unfolding the letter so that she could let him read it. He carefully took the parchment from her hands, reading it over as quickly and as best he could in the dim lighting that was provided. “Where did you get this?” He asked, folding the letter up and putting it into one of the pockets of his robe before she could protest._

_She folded her arms, the action making the small baby bump that much more noticeable to him. “Why does it matter?” She asked, a bit of defiance in her tone. Luke didn’t even pay her or her attitude any attention, his eyes locked with the small intruder between them, the being that would change everything. A child of two force-sensitive individuals would surely turn the tides of the war._

_He hesitantly reached his hand forward and settled it onto her swell, his action causing her breath to hitch. “W-what are you doing?” She snapped, moving her hand to remove his. Somehow, she ended up laying her hand over his, holding it in place as she felt something she hadn’t before. Their baby kicked Luke’s hand and the two soon-to-be parents stood frozen, in awe of what they had created._

_After a few more moments of being huddled together, Luke reluctantly removed his hand from her abdomen. Maeve was actually sad to not feel his warmth radiating against her. He cleared his throat, “I’ll send Finn and Rey to the plateau villages, in search of this man…”_

_“And what should I do, in the meantime?”_

_“I want to say act natural, but something tells me you’re hardly capable of that,” He quipped._

_She swatted at his arm and he feigned injury._

_“Once they return with this person, if he’s even still out there, you’ll confront your mother with the information written in the letter… everything else should work itself out,” Luke reassured her, after a long silence fell over them, in the wake of their playfulness._

_Maeve nodded, hope and sadness swirling around in her eyes. Luke reached his hand out to cup her face, no control of whatever was coming over him, his thumb stroking at her cheek. She subconsciously leaned into the touch, her hand grabbing and holding onto his. He parted his lips to say something but before he could, Maeve was leaning up on the tips of her toes to kiss him in a way he so desperately needed. After a moment, she moaned softly against his mouth and he pulled away slowly, leaning their foreheads together._

Though she was, in that moment, engaged in pleasant conversation with a few girls she considered to be friends, Maeve’s eyes were alight with the fresh memory of her moment alone with Luke. Music thumped around her, hand holding to a glass of mead for show, her body swaying lightly. She decided to stay in her leisure clothes, switching out her tiara for a gem-studded sleep mask that rested atop her head, gleaming for all to see.

Girls were fawning over her wealth and her poise, trying to keep up with her as she dragged them onto the ballroom floor to dance with her. Everything she had worked for over the past few years was just mere moments from being upended. However, she didn’t feel afraid anymore, she felt a sense of ease, finally having a reason to enjoy courtly life- she wouldn’t be apart of it for much longer.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Luke and Leia having a conversation. Her eyes didn’t linger on them for too long, knowing her mother’s eyes were surely fixed on her due to growing suspicion and years of paranoia. For once, Zahra actually had cause for concern. Maeve smirked to herself, thinking about all the women who would soon be throwing themselves to the feet of the one true heir to the Haruun Kal throne. 

Mid-thought, her eyes caught the sight of her valet who was standing off to the side near the entrance to the ballrooom. The man was lanky and his face was always youthful, but in that moment he looked pale and a lot like death was at his doorstep. Maeve looked to where her mother was perched atop her throne, staring at her nails with disinterest as Poe Dameron tried his best to distract her with tales from the front line of the Resistance. The young woman saw that as an opportunity to excuse herself and took it, parting through the other girls stealthily, trying to make her way to her valet as quickly as she could.

It didn’t take too long to cross the room and reach him, her eyes wide as she pulled him away from the large archway and into the hallway where they’d have more privacy. “Villem, what’s wrong?” She asked, eyes wide as the man leaned against the wall for support. Above him was a large portrait of her father and she looked up at it and gulped, something deeply sickening about seeing him look down at her. Her eyes broke away from the stunningly accurate depiction of her forebear, lids fluttering lightly as she set her gaze back onto her valet. 

He looked paler by the second, his shaky hand moving upward to pull back the fabric of his jacket, revealing a nasty wound. “You must leave... immediately,” he croaked. He almost slid down the wall and she reached out to lift him back up, the fair-haired gentleman had not been much older than her and tears sprang to her eyes when met with the memories of growing up alongside him. “Villem!” She yelped as quietly as she could, hands getting bloody from trying to prop him up against the wall by pressing at his midsection. Upon further inspection of the wound, she realized she knew exactly what had caused it; a lightsaber. He coughed and his green eyes found her face, “Since you’ve uncovered the letter, he has come for you. Nothing will stop him...”

Blood tinged his mouth as he fought through pain to speak again. “If you want Haruun Kal to survive the night, you will go now... and you will take what he has come to find.” His hand fumbles to dig into his pocket, pulling out something with a silver handle. Before he can unsheathe the entire thing, his body falls limp and his life force leaves him. She cries out as she slowly sliding him into a sitting position on the floor, rooting into his pocket to fish out what he wanted to give her. And that’s how Luke and Leia found her, towering over a dead man, a lightsaber in her hand. To the untrained eye, it might look like the Princess had cut down her valet, but the twins knew better.

“What happened?” Luke asked, voice shaking only faintly. She could tell he was worried and trying to keep his composure. She flinched as she looked at him, her hands and tan riding tunic covered in her valet’s blood. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and it took everything he had in him not to rush to her; to hold her close to him. “Maeve!” He yells, knowing she’s in shock, but that they probably don’t have much time to figure things out. “Villem... he said that... he said someone has come for me. He...he didn’t say who, just that they want the lightsaber now that I’ve uncovered the truth about my birth.”

It had been fifteen years since she’d so much as seen a lightsaber, let alone since she’d touched one. However, it was thrumming in her hand and muscle memory wasn’t going to fail her. She stepped away from Villem’s still-warm body, pressing the button on the lightsaber, instantly met with the bright amethyst of it’s beam. No sooner than she turned it on, feeling the power ripple through her, Rey and Finn fumbled through the front doors with a farm-hand in tow. Their faces were marred with dirty and their foreheads were covered with a sheen of sweat. They quickly secured the palace doors, leaning against the sturdy wood while they panted. Maeve turned off her lightsaber and attached it to her hip holster, her eyes not leaving the front doors. 

Luke stepped forward, standing beside his former student expectantly awaiting Rey to relay information to him. “We.. have to... get to the Falcon,” Rey managed. “Now,” Finn said soon after, voice filled with urgency. Luke gestured for the pair to come over to him, the young man with them following without hesitation. They all convened right in front of Villem’s corpse, eyes straying from him and up to the portrait that was hanging above him. Luke stared at them, waiting for a recap, about to open his mouth to chastise them when he realized what they were doing. “What the kriff are you looking at?” He asked, more than a little frustrated. 

Rey’s eyes filled with dread as she looked away from the large painting and back to her Master, “That’s the man... he’s causing havoc in the villages. We saw him strike this poor valet, how he made it back here is a miracle.”

Maeve’s entire body stiffened and she knew there wouldn’t be time to cope; her father was alive and she didn't know how or what that meant. She thought back to what Villem was saying to her just before he died. “I know what we have to do...” she said, sounding strong and unwavering. She held out her hand to the farm-hand, who looked very much like she expected he would, and he took her hand without hesitation. When they touched, she felt like a missing part of her was restored, but she ignored it, pulling him into the room full of debaucherous noble-women. Poe looked up to find Maeve walking towards them, parting through a sea of women with ease, halting in telling his war stories. The entire room grew still and quiet. Zahra looked up, surprise and relief on her face until she caught a glimpse of her daughter, at the foot of the throne, hand-in-hand with...

“Mother, this is Brinto Marasu, a farm-hand from one of the villages.”

Zahra looked between Maeve and the young man, an ever-growing look of confusion on her face. “He is the true heir to the throne of Haruun Kal. You see, he isn’t really Brinto Marasu, a farm-hand. His birth name, his first given name, was Mason Coruscant Windu and he was born approximately seven minutes after I was.” 

Her mother stood abruptly, eyes hard as she descended the stairs that led to the throne and made her way to the two of them. “But you already knew that,” Maeve said, refusing to let her mother scare her or get a word in edgewise. “What you didn’t know is that, while my brother appeared to be irreversibly ill...he was not. And father hid him away, convinced that the boy would be the force-sensitive one of the pair. Especially after I failed to show much promise when being taught by Master Skywalker.”

Her mother’s gaze was hard and unwavering as she glanced between the two of them. “Father was wrong, though. I am the one who goes to fight the war, not the one who sits on the throne. Because while I am eldest, Haruun Kal law states that any brother should hold a more legitimate claim to the throne than I do.”

With that, her words laced with such finality, she stepped back and let her mother get a look at the man she was robbed a chance at raising. “Goodbye mother,” Maeve whispered, the defeated look on her mother’s face fading no sooner than it appeared. Maeve exited the ballroom swiftly, Poe hot on her trail. Maeve felt a slight panic set in, knowing she was running out of time to clear the palace and lead her newfound enemies away from her people; the people she had sworn to protect. 

“Let’s get to the Falcon,” she said to all of them, grabbing a bag of all the things she would need from her ladies maid, Vila on their way toward the back door. Everyone exited the palace ahead of Maeve and she lingered to say something to the crying and distraught maid. 

“Make sure he gets a proper burial, and if you need anything...my personal jewelry collection is at your disposal. That goes for the rest of the staff, too.” Vila looked almost taken aback by Maeve’s words. She had never known Her Highness to be unkind, not by any means, but even in what would be her absence she proved to do more than Zahra ever had. Placing a hand on Vila’s shoulder, she offered the woman a parting nod and a faint smile. “Alert my mother to the chaos in the villages and she will deploy the military. Make haste.”

Maeve went to hurry after the others, Vila’s voice calling out to her when she’d made it halfway to where the Falcon was parked on the palace grounds. “May the force be with you!” The tiny slip of a young woman called out to her, blonde hair blowing in the night wind. Maeve turned her head to look back at Vila, giving her a tiny wave before boarding the Falcon just as it’s engines roared to life.

“Get us out of here as fast as you can, Chewie,” Rey said, visibly shaken. Chewie growled back something in his native tongue, heading for the cockpit. 

The main corridor was filled with bustling people and Maeve tried her hardest not to feel overwhelmed. “Finn, go man the guns, in case we have to put up a fight on the way out of here,” Rey barked, running around the ship like a mad woman. Finn nodded his head at the order and Rey finally fixed her sights on Poe. “Dameron, you go give Chewie support, he could use you in there,” The small and thin brunette said, tone softer than before. Maeve kinked an eyebrow as she watched the exchange, not at all blind to the visible shift in not only Rey’s demeanor, but in the Force.

Though it probably wasn’t the time to observe Luke’s new apprentice, she welcomed the distraction. In the moment of chaos and organized frenzy, it was the first time she really allowed herself to pay attention to Rey. Time seemed to slow down and Maeve watched as the girl moved around and gave out orders, Leia soon following suit; General Organa was clearly in her element. Maeve could’ve stood there and watched everyone move around her, but Luke had other plans, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her off to the crew quarters, knocking her from her haze. 

“Hey!” She yelled at him, the door swishing closed and giving them privacy. Everything was still a little hazy, her mind clearly still in the midst of trying to process her grief and anger. 

“Sit,” he said to her, voice even and almost completely devoid of emotion. She listened to him, sitting down on the bed, better known as the only thing in the small drab room to even sit on. He paced in front of her, the cogs in his mind spinning without fail.

Maeve watched him, biting down on her lower lip, vaguely wishing she could just check out and get away from everything. “Luke...” Her voice was so quiet and tiny, he almost didn’t notice it. “I’m afraid,” she admitted, her voice the only thing that would betray her emotions. He moved to sit beside her, hoping his presence alone could quell her negative emotions, at least until their ship was far far away from her home world. She laid her hand atop his without even turning her head to find it and, at the contact, Luke let out a gentle sigh. 

The two of them stayed like that until the Millennium Falcon was in hyperdrive a few moments later, headed for a land far far away.


	3. weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> musical influence for this chapter: weak x wet

After they fled from Haruun Kal, things were pretty calm. Rey informed both Maeve and Luke that they had had very little trouble getting away from the planets surface. A few fighters tried to shoot at them but were quickly dealt with, and they hadn’t received any distress calls from the palace. 

Maeve felt a wave of relief wash over her, the calm of space lulling her into a state of slight exhaustion; or maybe it was the trauma she had been subjected to over the course of that last day. Not to mention, she was five months pregnant and was always looking for any excuse to nap or laze about or eat. 

After Maeve was briefed, Leia suggested that Rey help the other woman find something suitable to wear, preferably something devoid of blood stains. After a long hot shower it was there, in Rey’s quarters, that the two women took a moment to talk and work toward clearing the awkward air.

“So... this should probably fit you,” Rey said, handing over a simple beige tunic and a pair of pants to match, the annoyingly heavy silence between them making her the first to cave. 

“Thank you.” 

“And I just want you to know that I’ve heard a lot about you and I’m happy you’re here,” Rey added, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

Maeve dropped her towel with no shame. “Why, is Luke too much to handle on your own? Want another Padawan around so he’s less hard on you?” Rey averted her gaze immediately, hoping that Maeve would fully clothe herself as quickly as humanly possible. Maeve took her sweet time about it, seeming to get some sense of pleasure out of Rey’s discomfort. “I’m sorry, I’m used to getting changed in front of ladies maids. They always avert their gaze, too; It’s a sign of respect.”

Rey slowly moved her eyes back to the other woman, taken completely aback as she caught Maeve lowering the tunic over her rather noticeable baby bump. With the tunic on and in place, you could barely notice it but Rey had seen it bare and uncensored. Her eyes widened and Maeve saw the revelation clear as day on the younger woman’s face.

“You...”

“Are pregnant, yes...” Maeve answered the question she knew would be asked, her voice calm and demeanor seemingly unchanged. After a moment of silence, Maeve thanked Rey for the clothes once more, moving to depart from her quarters. 

Outside the door, she almost ran smack dab into Poe, who smiled at her and then chuckled nervously. Maeve glanced at him and then over her shoulder to where Rey sat on her bed. After a moment of pause, Maeve decided that whatever was going on with the two of them was none of her business and the least of her worries. She walked past Poe, going just down the hall, and quickly entered her own quarters. It was dark in there but she could sense Luke’s presence immediately. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to go sneaking around after lights out..” She shot, her annoyance obvious even in the darkness of her room. When met with silence, she used the force to turn on the only lamp in the cramped space, the dim light blanketing the room in a way that could have been seen as romantic under any other circumstances.

Luke was sat on her bed, his head in his hands, and Maeve could only assume that his downward spiral was catching up to him. “I’m so sorry... for what I’ve done to you...” he started, his words cutting into her like tiny knives. She moved closer to the bed, the action only taking two or three strides to complete. She came to a standstill right in front him and extended her arm to gently rub the freshly cut hair atop his head. “There is nothing to apologize for. I was a willing participant. You might not remember but...” 

He looked up upon hearing her words, coming face-to-face with their growing bundle of joy. “My body remembers,” he stated plainly, “It reacts to you..”

She looked down at him, her breath hitching only slightly. She tried to recover by giving him a small smile. “Will you stay here with me?” She asked, genuinely never wanting him to leave her or their baby. He looked down again, his eyes on the floor. “I’ll stay, if that’s what you want. This bed is big enough for the both of us.”

Maeve nodded her consent and tried not to think about what this sleeping arrangement meant for their relationship. Crawling into bed, she nestled on the side that was pressed against the wall, staring at it in hopes that it’s sterile paint would calm her nerves. Luke laid down beside her, facing her back but he didn’t dare touch her or close the distance between them. He did, however, pull the thick bed covers over them, wanting to be sure that she and their youngling would be warm. 

“What’s going to happen?”

Maeve’s voice pulled him back from the edge of sleep. He blinked a few times to regain his composure. She turned to face him when he didn’t answer right away, afraid he’d let sleep take him before she mustered the courage to ask him the things that weighed heavily on her.

“I’m going to care for you, if you’ll allow it,” he said, his hand finding her stomach and rubbing gently. “And taking care of you starts with making sure you’re getting enough rest.”

Maeve chuckled a bit, “I can’t exactly sleep with someone kicking me in the ribcage all night.”

Luke wanted to protest what she had said but thought better of it upon feeling the lively kicks of their unborn child. He stroked her stomach absentmindedly, relishing in the feeling of the life they’d created. He smiled faintly, his eyes opening fully to find Maeve staring at him. She opened her mouth to say something but was met with a sharp pain that left her breathless and gasping. Luke sat up immediately, turning on the lamp. “Maeve? Are you alright?” His brow creased with worry and he leaned in towards her, brushing her hair from her face. 

Letting off a small whine, she sat up too, “Yes.. I’m okay... I just.” She huffed, the action causing the loose tendrils of hair that had fallen over onto her face to be blown out of the way. “It might just be me, but I think I’m feeling two very different sets of kicks.”

 

* * *

* * *

 

After fighting to get some semblance of sleep, Luke accompanied Maeve to the Med Bay the following morning. A doctor ran all the appropriate tests and looked the expectant mother over as thoroughly as she possibly could. “It looks like everything is fine, your pregnancy is progressing exactly as it should be, and you and your babies are in peak physical condition,” the doctor said, a smile on her face.

“Babies?” Maeve asked, eyes wide as the Doctor nodded and showed her the ultrasound, followed by letting her listen to both the heart beats at once. “I’m honestly not surprised you’re carrying multiples. You said you’re a twin, right?” Maeve nodded in response, a blank expression on her face as she added, “And so is the father...” She spared a glance over her shoulder, eyes meeting Luke’s from his place in the corner of the room. The doctor caught the exchange and her eyes widened for a moment, the shock leaving her soon after, especially upon being graced with the presence of General Organa.

“How is everything?” Leia asked not even five seconds after entering the room, more to Maeve than to the doctor, who saw that as the perfect moment to excuse herself from the room.

Maeve looked to Luke and then back at Leia, a lump forming in her throat. She could feel his unhappiness, it was rippling off of him and hitting her at full force, the severity of it almost making her nauseous. “There are two of them...a boy and a girl,” Maeve finally managed to say, her eyes staring straight through Leia as she set her jaw and avoided Luke’s hard blue gaze that was burning a hole through her back.

The siblings locked eyes with one another before Leia helped the pregnant young woman off of the examination table. 

“Would you like some Root Leaf Stew?” Luke asked, catching his former student completely off guard. She simply nodded her head in response, she had been practically craving it since the moment she opened her eyes that morning; Maeve could honestly eat five bowls of Root Leaf Stew in a single day. He smiled at her but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Go ahead to the kitchen and ask Rose to help you gather the ingredients. After I have a word with my sister, I’ll be there to assist you in preparing it.”

Though she was slightly suspicious about his need to speak with his sister privately, she wasn’t going to turn down Root Leaf Stew, nor the opportunity to make a meal beside him; it seemed like such an intimate thing. Maeve smiled faintly at Leia, who then patted her on the shoulder as she made her way out of the Med Bay. Once the doors shut with a resounding swoosh, Luke was leaning against the exam table with his arms folded, his eyes hard and focused off somewhere just behind Leia.

“How are you, Luke?”

“I don’t know...”

“I can feel what you are feeling...and if I can feel it, I have no doubt that she can.”

He sighed, “I’ve been a bit too preoccupied to keep my emotions and thoughts walled off.”

“And you know, almost better than anyone else how dangerous that can be,” She chastised, raising an eyebrow at him.

Luke had no words for her, no rebuttal, because he knew that his sister was right; Leia was seldom wrong. Having himself be so open was not only dangerous, but stupid. He could only imagine how his unhappiness affected Maeve; she was probably just as upset as he was and it didn’t help that he wasn’t being as supportive as he could be. In hindsight, Luke started to marvel at the strength of his student, she had been dealing with their problematic solution far longer than he had. 

It wasn’t the pregnancy that bothered him, not as much as it was the feeling of history repeating. He stood up straight and gave his sister a small smile, “I’ll be better...at all of this,” he promised. Leia smiled back, and it was in that moment that she became immediately aware of the fact that her brother was completely unreadable again.

“I’m here if you need anything, anything at all,” he heard his sister say as he left the Med Bay. He hoped beyond hope that he wouldn’t have to take her up on the offer.

 

 

Word had gotten around the Falcon pretty quickly, eyes following her wherever she went, though she had taken to wearing a Jedi Knight’s robe, and it seemed as if everyone wanted to get just a glimpse of her dirty little secret. When Maeve made it to the kitchen, she was surprised to find that Rose had actually gotten quite comfortable with the news. The girl sidled up beside her, taking her aside after they’d gathered yarum seeds, galla seeds, and scavenged sohli bark.

“So, have you thought of any names yet?” Rose asked, voice hushed.

Maeve paused in prepping the stew any further, a small smirk on her face. Though the question was inappropriate it amused her and made her admire Rose’s ability to be completely fearless. The brown-skinned woman looked up and over at the other woman through her lashes, a small chuckle escaping her as she said, “One or two, actually..”

Rose’s eyes lit up with excitement; Firstly, at the fact that the mysterious princess turned Jedi would even speak to her; Secondly, because she was glad to know that the pregnancy rumors were true. But something was rather puzzling to almost all of the crew; who was the father? 

“What names are you thinking?” Rose squeaked after she mustered enough courage to ask a follow-up question.

“Nothing too solid, as of yet,” Maeve responded, not taking her eyes away from the ingredients in front of her. To share names with anyone would be to let the startling news she’d just received be known, both far and wide, and she wasn’t ready for that; she still had to come to terms with it and knew that Luke needed time, too.

Poe was sitting at a nearby table and, as he eavesdropped, something about the rumor clicked into place for him. He got up to find Rey, just as Luke entered the room; The two nodded their greetings and then carried on about their business.

“Ready to make some of the best Root Leaf Stew you’ve ever had?” he asked her, sparing a smile and a glance at she and Rose as he removed his robes. Maeve smirked and Rose nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t know, Master... the staff at the palace does know their way around a kitchen, and surely around this recipe. What makes you think that you could do better?”

He rolled up his sleeves and stepped closer to the ingredients, trying his best not to let the conflicting emotions appear on his face at her decision to call him Master instead of by his name. Maeve stared at him for a second before sharing a playful smile with Rose, letting the girl know she was only antagonizing the Jedi Knight.

“Well, from a young age, I learned how not to cook this. Master Yoda’s bland version of the stew has scarred both me and my tastebuds and I feel that has given me the advantage of learning a work-around.” He set to work on gathering complementary seasonings, thankful that the Falcon had way more options in comparison to Ahch-To. He gave her a side glance, the ghost of a smile on his lips just before he said, “I hope you all like a little heat on your tongues.”

 

* * *

* * *

 

Poe knocked gently on the door to Rey’s quarters and upon receiving no reply, he knocked a bit more aggressively. The door opened with a swoosh and a thunk and he came face to face with her. Finn was sitting on the bed, a slight look of shock on his face when he saw Dameron standing on the other side of the threshold. “What’s wrong?” Rey asked, her eyebrows furrowed as the man pushed past her and into her room. Once the door closed, he looked at the two of them, a light in his eyes. “They’re together, aren’t they?”

Rey and Finn shared a glance and then looked back at Poe almost simultaneously. “We think so, that’s why he was drawn to her.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Poe said, confusion on his face. “And isn’t that forbidden… Jedi and their students?” He paused, eyes flicking to Rey, “Jedi with anyone, for that matter..” If their suspicions were true, he could only imagine what that would mean for the pair:  himself, Rey, and their dreams of going public with their feelings.

Rey nodded, clasping her hands together nervously. Something felt wrong about discussing that exact subject matter behind her Master’s back, but she digressed. “It was, at a time. But there isn’t really a council to enforce those rules. There’s only Luke.”

Poe scratched his head and paced the floor, “But when exactly would he have had time to… you know?” He gestured wildly with his hands, not exactly comfortable saying what he was thinking.

Finn shrugged a bit, “That’s what Rey and I were just discussing…”

“I don't really know but…” Rey paused briefly, “There’s a bond between them, I’ve felt it since the moment we set foot on Haruun Kal.”

Everyone paused, the room going completely quiet. 

Finn was the first to move, his hands going into his pockets as he stood up from Rey’s bed, “Maybe we’re way too invested in this. Maybe this is none of our business.”

“We all deserve to know why we risked our necks to get her and free her from her duties.”

“You’re right, and I feel like it has more to do with the fact that she’s to become a Jedi than the fact that she’s with-child,” Finn argued, his dear friend wearing a hurt expression at the fact that he seemed to be choosing a side other than hers.

Poe watched with slight discomfort as the tension in the room made it hard to think straight.

“If there’s something we should be worried about… something that could put us all in danger, we need to know about it, Finn.”

Finn was headed towards her door, annoyance clear on his face, “It’s just a little baby, Rey.”

"A baby that could bring The First Order down on us like a monsoon,” Rey snapped, her body stiffening with anger and her cheeks turning red. Finn paused at the door, shoulders squaring with tension. “Rey, the sooner you admit this is about more than him keeping secrets from you, the better,” He said softly before leaving altogether.

When he was gone, Poe exhaled sharply, trying to make sense of what he’d just witnessed. Rey was pacing the floor and he stepped closer to her, immediately gaining her attention. He reached his hand out to grab hers and all of the tension left her. “Hey…” Dameron whispered before pulling her close. She embraced him almost instinctually, reveling in the feeling of him as he held her close. “Whenever Luke feels we are ready to know things, he will tell us. Besides, this isn’t something he can hide forever,” he said reassuringly. Rey nodded in agreement to his words, but there was something nagging at her that she just couldn’t let go.

Poe pulled away from her, looking down at her with eyes full of something she had never seen before. “Let’s have some fun, yeah?”

She couldn’t help but smile at his boyish charm.

 

 

It didn’t take long for the stew to finish and it couldn’t have done so any sooner, Maeve’s mouth watering and her stomach grumbling. She was sitting at the table with Rose, playing a board game when Luke brought her over a steaming bowl of what had, in pregnancy, become her favorite dish. “Thank you,” she said, a broad smile on her face as she craned her neck slightly so that she could look up at him from his place behind her. He nodded, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead, “You’re welcome, now try it.”

Maeve looked down at the the bowl, dipping her spoon into it a bit hesitantly. She lifted the spoon from the bowl, blew on the liquid to cool it down, and then took the spoon into her mouth. After a moment of letting it sit on her tongue, she let a pleased noise escape her. “Verdict?” Luke asked, folding his arms as he watched her intently. “This is the best I’ve ever had,” she said, voice low and filled with gratitude. He knew she didn’t mean to sound the way she sounded or look the way she looked as she continued to eat, but it did something to him. “Good,” he said plainly, walking off to retrieve his robes. Maeve set her spoon down, turning slightly in her chair, eyes finding him across the room as he put his robes on again. “You aren’t going to have any?” She inquired, gesturing to the bowl before her. Luke simply shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. I’m going to go find Leia. I stopped to see Chewie before coming here, and according to his calculations, we’ll be arriving to our destination soon enough.”

“You haven’t eaten anything all day,” She protested.

He gave her a tight smile, “That’s true, but I’ll be fine. I’m not the one who-“ he paused, eyes flicking to Rose briefly before resting back onto Maeve, “You needed it more than I did. Besides, there will be more food on Yavin 4.” 

“Yavin 4?” Maeve asked in between sips of her soup, abandoning the spoon and drinking it straight from the bowl.

Luke was barely smiling at her, but his amusement definitely reached his eyes. “If it’s not too much to ask, I’ll take my leave now, your highness.”

She squinted at him from above the rim of her bowl, hearing him say, ‘It’s good to see all those years of etiquette paid off,’ through the force.

Before she could shoot a snide remark back at him, he was leaving the room.

Rose was grinning at the exchange she’d witnessed and the words she’d been lucky enough to hear.

“He seems…”

“He’s terrible,” Maeve said quickly, getting up from her seat to get more stew from the tiny kitchen.

As she made her way back out to the table, Rey was standing in the doorway to the mess hall, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Maeve had to fight the urge to squint at the younger woman, going to set her bowl down on the table. She stayed standing though, prepared for whatever would come next. The girl clearly wouldn’t fight her, not in her condition, but something about her stance was threatening. “I’ve come to have a talk with you…. Alone.” As the words left Rey’s mouth, she shot a side glance to Rose, her territorial stance unwavering. Maeve glanced across the small table and gave a small nod to a visibly worried Rose. The small dark-haired girl got up from her seat and quickly scurried out of the room. 

Silence settled over the two of them and Maeve cleared her throat, eyeing Rey expectantly.

“I’ve come to get some answers,” Rey said, voice unwavering as she sat where Rose had been just moments earlier.

Maeve eyed the girl and then followed suit, sitting back in her own seat, her food all but forgotten. “The answers you seek are not mine alone. In other words, my lips are sealed.” 

Rey nodded slightly, “I figured you’d say that.”

The two women stared at each other, Maeve the first to waver. This budding rivalry with her fellow apprentice was already getting old and she didn’t want to be on Rey’s bad side all because Luke was being secretive. She didn’t blame Luke for his discretion, he was just trying to protect her and the babies, but they all knew well what could happen if you kept your Padawan in the dark; the world didn’t need another Anakin Skywalker or Ben Solo. “You will have all the answers you seek when we land on Yavin 4, Rey… I’ll make sure of it.”

Rey was slightly taken aback by the sincere look in Maeve’s eyes; she thought that the woman was hell-bent on keeping her in the dark, but when she really thought about it she knew deep down that that was more of Luke’s style.

“Thank you,” was all Rey could manage to say, her body seeming to relax almost immediately.

Before Maeve could say anything more, Finn was sliding down the corridor that led to the mess and then he was in the room with them. He looked between the two of them, almost afraid to ask what was going on. Rey smiled at him and then stood from her seat. “I’m sorry,” She said, going to him at once, her hand gently clapping onto his shoulder. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled back at her. “Apology accepted,” he stated simply. Maeve was a little confused by the exchange but went back to eating her stew, minding her own damn business. Poe walked into the mess next, eyes alight, “We’re landing, everybody. And it’s a good thing, too, because you all shouldn’t be forced to live another day without tasting one my fathers home-cooked meals.”

“Oh, boy,” Maeve said, both apprehensive and excited at the prospect of eating yet again; she was feeding for three, after all.

 

* * *

* * *

 

After the Falcon landed in the cover at the edge of one of the many jungles native to Yavin 4, the group filed out of it, stretching their limbs and breathing in the glorious air. Poe was in front of all of them, looking a lot like a child who had just received a gift. Maeve imagined finally being able to come home after fighting a long and tiring war was a gift, alright. And though the war was far from over, it must’ve been overwhelmingly nice.

As everyone made there way to a clearing that was about a ten minute walk away, Maeve hung back a little and she wasn’t alone either. Luke walked up behind her, gently placing his hand on her lower back. She looked up at him, a questioning look in her eyes. “I need to have a word with you,” he said softly, so softly that it almost made her bolt in the opposite direction of him; something was clearly wrong.

“Let me guess, you want me to hide my pregnancy from more people.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, “Right, because you’ve been doing a fine job thus far.”

She gaped at him, the action earning her all of his attention, eyes drawn to her lips, his dreamy blue gaze immediately causing her to shut her mouth and blush. He was all but subtle with what he was thinking about and, though she couldn’t hear his thoughts or feel his emotions, she knew what he wanted. Maeve grew hot under the collar, knowing she’d felt the same things; wanted the same things. But they had never touched, not really, and the thought of having intercourse in corporeal both intrigued and frightened her.

“I’m going to need you to do the exact opposite,” Luke finally said.

“Exact opposite of what?” Maeve squeaked, a bit confused and caught off guard by him suddenly regaining his composure; especially when she sure as hell hadn’t regained her own.

He smirked at her, wiping the look from his face the second she started glaring at him. “I need you to be okay with... telling everyone.”

Maeve’s eyebrows raised and she had to stop herself from gaping again. She stammered over her words a bit before finally managing to say, “I’m more than okay with that, Luke. I’ve been carrying this secret around for far too long.”

Luke nodded stiffly, “Okay...”

Maeve started to walk in the direction the others had gone and Luke stopped her, grabbing her arm, her confused eyes meeting him again. “I might also need you to be ready to hear some things that won’t exactly please you,” he said, the tone of his voice making her gulp as she stared at him. After a moment of silent contemplation, she nodded her head and he released his hold on her.

The two of them walked side by side, in complete and utter silence, the others far ahead of them. Maeve didn’t know why, but a part of her thought he would have at least kissed her when they were alone. Or maybe she was the only one who wanted that to happen.

When the group made it through to the clearing, at the lip of the jungle, they were met with a stretching field. Not too far in the distance, Maeve could make out the shape of a home, smoke billowing from a pipe atop it’s roof. Poe turned to look at his crew, over his shoulder, face alight as he gestured for them to follow him. Without a second thought, he took off running towards — what once was and would forever be— his home. 

Something about the sight of best pilot in The Resistance, eager to return home reminded her of how much she loved Haruun Kal. Her home planet had it’s many faults but it was a unique place, a place full of history about the very thing that was so very deeply woven into who she was; the force. And things worked differently on Haruun Kal, nothing was ever a complete contrast, just different. Yet still, she felt something, there on Poe’s home planet; something that made her feel complete.

Maeve was nearing the house where the others were already gathered, but something just to the other side of the yard seemed to be pulling her; making her veer off course, making her lose sight of everything else around her. She heard voices as she stepped closer and closer to where her body wanted to go, not even hearing as Luke called out to her. Her wayward journey did not last very long, however, Luke rushing to pull her back to the moment. He turned her, maybe a bit too roughly and she was met with worried blue eyes, a moment of clarity hitting her with a momentum that she didn’t expect. A gasp escaped her.

“Maeve, what are you doing?” He asked her, his hands clutching at her shoulders dangerously tight.

“I...”

“Skywalker, let the girl be,” called a man who, though visibly older, looked very much like Poe.

He was quick to come over to the two of them, long legs needing far fewer strides than Maeve’s. She smiled sheepishly at the man, Luke releasing her from his grasp almost instantaneously. “You have a lovely home, Mr. Dameron.”

The man smiled and it was almost contagious, smile-lines revealing themselves at the corners of his eyes, tan skin gleaming in the sunlight. “You can call me Kes.”

Maeve smiled faintly, her eyes flickering between Luke and Kes, not failing to notice the way her Master kept glancing behind them every so often. What was that euphoria she felt upon arriving there? And why was Luke so scared to let her get close to it? His behavior slightly mirrored his behavior when they were on the other side of the veil; he blocked her from seeing— what was it again?

“Let us all go indoors. The meal is almost ready,” Kes said cheerfully, breaking Maeve from her thoughts. He turned and headed into his home, mussing Poe’s hair on the way, earning a chuckle from the man and a playful shove.

Luke placed his hand on the small of Maeve’s back and ushered her into the home that had high ceilings and beautiful wooden archways galore; everyone taking a moment to be absolutely astounded at the sight.

“Mom and Dad built this place themselves,” Poe called out, the pride evident on his face. Rey was watching him, her cheeks red and eyes bright. Maeve would give anything to have what she suspected Rey had with Poe; hell, she would give anything for Rey to be able to keep the relationship growing and flourishing, but she knew it was only a matter of time before Luke found out and put an end to it. The burden of the Jedi was much too strong to let attachments get in the way, and the only reason she was in her current predicament is because the Jedi did eventually need to carry on. And she was almost certain that Luke didn’t feel a fraction of what Poe felt for Rey; definitely not for her.

 

A few hours after settling in and of listening to Poe’s tales of adventures, the group was led through a large archway that led to an outdoor eating area that was being illuminated by tall torches that had been shoved into the ground. A gigantic wooden table was set and food was put out for everyone. Maeve had felt sleep taking her during Poe’s story time, but was quickly livened at the sight of the table; she was absolutely ravenous.

“Dig in, everyone,” Kes said, a smile on his face as everyone started to seat themselves. Maeve suspected she was the most enthused but started to reconsider when she saw Chewie, growls of what she assumed was happiness coming from him. She was hesitant to touch her food, caught somewhere between feeling famished but not wanting to look like she had been being starved. There was also no way of knowing whether or not she would keep any of it down, at the palace she was able to have most of her meals approved; on Yavin 4? Not so much.

Picking up the fork beside her, she decided she’d move it around her plate for a while, just until dinner conversation started to flow, because then she could pace herself a bit better. Luke was sat beside her and at the head of the table, beside him was Kes, smiling merrily as everyone began eating. “So, what brings The Resistance to my doorstep? I’ll take any excuse to see my son, but I’m curious,” the man asked, in between bites of what seemed to be some sort of animal served alongside vegetables that were native to the planet/region.

Maeve looked up from her plate, curious as ever, her eyes darting between Luke and Leia who had just finished sharing a look. Luke wiped his mouth with a napkin, clearing his throat to say, “Well… we needed a bit of refuge and we knew The First Order wouldn’t think to look here.”

Kes watched Luke, eyes roaming over the other man in an attempt to suss out whether his words were true. After a long pause, he responded with, “Well good, I was worried she had gotten to you, too. She spoke to me, through the tree.”

Luke’s entire demeanor changed. Maeve observed him carefully, and right away she could tell that he wasn’t surprised by his old friend’s words, but more-so tense because he was expecting them. She guessed he must have used to force to glance ahead and see what his dear friend Kes was about to tell him. 

When Luke didn’t ask the question, Maeve piped up with, “Worried that who had gotten to him?” Kes spared her a glance, his eyes darting between she and the Jedi Knight who was more than twice her age. “A Knight of Ren by the name of Mara Jade,” He said when Luke made no objections to the utterance of her name. 

Maeve paused, a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. No, no, no. Mara had died the night Luke’s Temple was destroyed, she had seen it with her own eyes. She dropped her fork, her mind racing as she tried her hardest to remember exactly what happened that night. Every time she replayed the memory, it ended exactly the same; with Mara Jade Skywalker’s demise. Luke shifted a bit in his seat, fighting the urge to comfort her, feeling her distress as if it were his own. And though Maeve had only taken a few bites of her food, her appetite had all but vanished, nausea hitting her so directly that it made her head spin. The fact that Mara was alive meant a number of things and Maeve was not pleased with any of it.

“It can’t be,” Leia said, her cool and calm exterior not cracking once, even as her brother looked like he was on the verge of exploding with rage.

Kes folded his arms and stared off in thought, coming to a conclusion and then voicing it, “She knew you’d come here or that I would send word to you, somehow.”

“What does this mean for us, General?” Poe asked, the only one of the crew who had enough courage to do so.

Leia wore a pensive expression but it was Luke who answered. “I’m going to go to her,” he paused, looking to Kes, “I’m assuming she left a location.”

Kes nodded once, going to get a writing utensil and parchment. Maeve thought back on what their hospitable host had said only moments earlier, the question that hung on her lips being brought to life when she asked aloud, “What tree?”

Luke looked at her, watching as she paled. “The one that called to you upon our arrival.” His answer didn’t make any sense to her, but she was sure he’d tell her more about it later when they were alone; if he didn’t just up and leave first, that is. Kes came back out to the eating area, a folded and wax-sealed note in hand. “This is where she said to go,” he said solemnly, handing the note off to Luke who didn’t dare to break the seal just yet.

“Go back to eating,” Luke said, standing up from his seat as he placed the note into one of the pockets of his robe; not a soul listening to his order. “Where are you going?” Maeve asked immediately, the worry clear on her face. He shot her a reprimanding look, one he hadn’t given her since she was a girl, and she immediately gave it right back to him. “I have to go to her,” he caved, not wanting to have a staring match for too long, knowing time was of the essence. “If I don’t go to her now, they could come here..” the words came out softer than she expected and his face softened along with them. 

He started to walk away from the table and she stood to go after him. Luke was about halfway through the entrance of Kes Dameron’s home when Maeve stepped after him. Leia called after the young woman but she didn’t get too far anyway, doubling over and losing what bit of food she had eaten. Luke froze where he stood, turning slowly to witness the mess, Rey springing into action and going to be by the Princess’ side. 

Kes was standing too, brow furrowed, “Was the food really that bad?”

Poe wanted to laugh but instead he pressed his lips together in a tight line to keep from doing so. Maeve was still bent over, Rey rubbing small circles into her back. With bleary eyes and a shaky voice, Maeve stood up straight and said, “I’m so sorry. I... the food was wonderful, Mr. Dameron.”

She looked over to him, then to Rey, ignoring the others who were not in direct line of sight. “It’s just really hard to gauge what the babies will allow me to consume,” she said, matter-of-factly, her hand proudly resting on her bump.

Kes raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. And he wasn’t the only one. “Babies?!” Rose belted, probably on behalf of literally everyone. Luke was giving his eldest student a hard glare but there wasn’t any taking back what she had just said, and even if she wanted to, he was the one who told her to say it; therefore, he had absolutely no right to be upset with her.

In any regard, Maeve didn’t get much time to explain anything to anyone. Luke turned on his heels, moving into the house and she went after him. She wasn’t in any shape to do so, but she’d be damned if he got to leave before she could yell at him or voice her concerns. 

When she found him, he was in one if the few guest rooms, grabbing his bag that he had brought along with them. She closed the door and alerted him of her presence, making him pause in his actions only briefly.

“What are you doing?”

“I already told you. I’m going to her.” He said, tone clipped.

She walked over to him slowly, her hands on her hips. “You can’t just leave us here.”

“This is the safest place for you,” he said, standing up straight and looking her in her eyes. She bit her lip, trying to fight off the emotions and thoughts that were bubbling to the surface. One thought was screaming louder at her than the others. What if he didn’t come back?

“If you go to her, The First Order will know where we are, Luke.”

“Not if I tell her that Kes sent word to me,” He said, holding up the letter with the wax seal. In theory, his plan could work, but Kylo Ren was smarter than that. He was using Mara as bait, she was apart of the Knights of Ren now, she had gone to the dark just like she had before. In her youth, Maeve was always skeptical of her Master’s wife; she was the same woman who trained under Darth Sidius, the Sith who killed her Grandfather. She had heard so many tales of what was almost the end of the Windu bloodline from her father, those tales making sleeping at night almost an impossibility. She didn’t trust Mara Jade and If there was one thing she had learned studying under Luke, it was that people could change; but never for the good. Kylo Ren, her father, and now Mara Jade; they had all chosen the dark so easily. She was still reeling from the realization that her father didn’t die on an expedition to the Downlands, she didn’t know how she’d survive knowing that she was expecting children with a man who was still very much married or the fact that his resurrected wife could come for her and the babies at any given time.

“Don’t do this,” she said, her heart breaking into a million pieces. Even if it wasn’t a trap to make the crew vulnerable with his absence, Mara could kill him on sight. But Maeve also feared another alternative; what if Mara wasn’t really dark? What if it was all a rouse? What if she was pretending for survival?

As if almost instinctually, Maeve placed a hand on her stomach. She felt the life inside her and witnessed the light leaving his eyes. “We’ll discuss _that_ when I return,” he said, gesturing to her bump. Did he really feel nothing for her or their unborn children? The bond they had forged was not only one-sided, she was sure of it. So, why was he treating her that way? Not even two nights ago was he relishing in the possibility of new life being breathed into the fight between the light and the dark. Why was he so conflicted?

“Luke, I....”

He looked at her, eyes hard and jaw clenched; it made her breath catch in her throat and her blood run cold. “I will return,” he said when she didn’t have enough courage to finish her train of thought, brushing past her as he left the room.

Maeve shut her eyes and let tears stream down her cheeks. 

Once on the other side of the door, he let out a breath he had almost forgotten he was holding. He recalled the pain he saw on her face and thought momentarily about how it matched the carefully concealed pain he was feeling inside. He felt betrayed by Mara, betrayed by himself for putting Maeve in the predicament she was in, and betrayed by the greater good. As he walked back outside he was met with curious glances, his voice perfectly even as he looked to Chewie and Poe. “I’m going to need you two to take me to her,” he said simply, knowing he didn’t really need to explain his words. The two pilots looked at each other and then at him, nodding as they rose from their seats.

“I guess I’ll be back soon, pops,” Poe said as he went over to hug Kes. Chewie was already walking towards the field, ready to do what his friend needed. Both men knew Luke needed them for more than just flight and navigation, the Jedi was one of the best pilots in the galaxy who could surely reach his destination alone; no, he needed them for back-up in case things went awry. Rey stood from her seat, “What about me, Master?”

He looked at her, brow furrowed as he thought. “I think Maeve will need you here.” He said the words with finality, such finality that Rey didn’t even bother to question him. On his way to bid his sister farewell, he slapped Finn on the shoulder, “You should probably join me, too.” Finn nodded stiffly, giving Rose a parting glance as he stood up to go gather his things from a guest room.

Luke thanked Kes for giving the women Asylum and then leaned over to kiss Leia on the forehead. “You watch over her,” he whispered. Leia smiled faintly before replying with, “May the force be with you.”

And just like that, the Mara Jade rendezvous team was gone.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Maeve didn’t know where Luke had gone off to, and weeks had gone by without any sight of the Falcon. Some days she felt compelled to pry the answers she sought out of Kes Dameron, but she resisted the urge as best she could. Some days were bleak and filled with boredom, while others Leia tried to keep her busy. Her bump had grown exponentially and the only training she could do with Rey consisted of channeling the force and meditation. 

Kes had showed the two students the force-sensitive tree that he planted many moons ago, alongside his departed wife Shara. He was hesitant to do it, given the initial lure it had over Maeve but Leia insisted it would be fine. The two young women would spend many afternoons sitting beneath it’s shade, having many conversations about many different topics, all while sipping on nice cool glasses of tea or tonic water. On occasion, Kes would even whip up a blue milkshake for them, knowing that Maeve wasn’t too accustomed to the hot weather on Yavin 4. It was on one of those afternoons that Rey finally got Maeve to make good on the promise of answering some questions she had.

“So...” the Jakku-native started, having just finished laughing at their critique of Luke and his mood swings.

Maeve was still smiling, basking in the shade of the force-sensitive tree, a blue milkshake in hand. She perked up a bit, feeling like a question was about to leave the lips of her newfound friend.

“What happened between the two of you?” Rey asked after mustering enough courage.

Maeve kinked an eyebrow, a bit of laugher spilling out of her as she gestured to her fairly round and protruding baby bump, “Isn’t it kind of obvious?”

Rey laughed lightly, “Yes. And no.”

Maeve paused, a thoughtful expression making its way onto her face. “Well, when I went to bring him back... we had to strengthen our bond. That level of intimacy is normally not acted upon between force-sensitive individuals. In the days of olde, The Jedi Order forbade it for a reason... but it was my people, The Korunnai, who knew that it was withholding attachments that hindered Jedi from reaching their full potential.”

Rey was listening intently, eyes filled with curiosity, practically begging for the other woman to continue her story. “There was only a small chance that doing what we did would....take. But, I suppose that small chance was all that was needed. Luke doesn’t remember anything that happened, memories barely survive the trip back through the veil... but I... I remember every moment.”

“Do you love him?”

Rey’s question startled the both of them. She might have been inquiring about love for an answer of her own, in regard to her personal inner turmoil about Poe. But for Maeve, that question was easily answered.

“I do. At least, that’s what I feel. And the outrageous thing is that it gets stronger with his absence,” she said, voice almost painfully wistful. “However, I’m not naive. At this point, I don’t know if I feel that way because of the bond, the fact that I’m carrying these babies, or if I really truly feel that way,” she continued, a sad tinge to her voice, face unchanged.

Rey stared at her and she stared back, both wondering about the men they cared for and the progress of their mission. 

Another few weeks had passed and Maeve was almost to the point of insanity. The farther she progressed into her pregnancy, the more her worry grew, her baby bump a constant reminder of the time that was passing. Leia tried to soothe the worry and distract her fellow Princess-turned-rebel, her tactics knowing no bounds. It almost worked, but everyone knew something was wrong when Maeve started screaming in her sleep.

The night terrors got worse as time went on, dark circles making their presence known on the young and beautiful face of the mother-to-be. One night, the screaming got so bad that Leia tried to wake her, her efforts going on for a while before she finally got through to the young woman. As consciousnesses brought her back to the land of the living, she bolted upright with a start, sweaty and panting.

Leia rested her hands on either side of the girls head, face stern yet worried. “Luke..” Maeve breathed, Leia shushing her and dabbing a cold damp cloth to her head. “This has got to stop,” Leia whispered, “Stress makes for an uneasy birth.”

At the mere mention of giving birth, Maeve started to sob uncontrollably, leaning her head against one of Leia’s shoulders. There was a possibility that she would have to give birth without him there beside her and her heart felt heavy. And though there was no rational reason behind it, she felt like she was going to die; her heart surely breaking. Rey stood in the doorway, watching with worry, her face pressed against the doorframe. A part of her wondered why she would ever put herself through loving Poe, his absence doing nothing to reassure her that their love was a safe bet or a sure thing.

“You have to be strong, Maeve,” Rey said softly, not wavering from where she stood in the doorway, even though her eyes were tired and she could barely keep her lids open.

Maeve raised her head and wiped her eyes, giving Rey a nod. “Will you stay with us, tonight?” She asked, moving to lay back in bed. Leia locked eyes with Rey, assuming that the question was for both of them. After silent contemplation, both women moved to lay in the bed on either side of her, turning out the lights. Rose had finished pretending she wasn’t eavesdropping from the hallway and went into the room, settling in to sleep at the foot of the bed.

After that night, there was a slight change in Maeve, and though it was subtle to the untrained eye, it was easy for Force-sensative individuals to spot. She had formed a bond with them, and though Rey was confused and worried about it, Leia reassured her that it was fine. Some Jedi were better at creating force bonds than others, and for those few it came as naturally as breathing. Leia knew the girl desperately needed strength and decided that that was how she would get it. In times of need, Leia and Rey would prop her up, at least until Luke returned; if he ever returned. General Organa had mastered the art of hiding her emotions long ago, but deep inside even she was worried.

Then, the day came when no one had to worry anymore. The Falcon came into sight, clear as day, landing in the field just outside of Kes’ home. He and Leia were having some Fizz at the table, in the outdoor eating area, when they breathed their collective sighs of relief. When the landing occurred Rey, Rose, and Maeve were sitting beneath the force-sensitive tree, trying to remember what it was like to just be girls. They were debating on baby names, their words and laughter falling short when they noticed the ship.

Rose was the first to stand in anticipation, wondering who would make their way out of the ship; if everyone would be back safe and unscathed. Rey reached out and held Maeve’s hand without ever taking her eyes off of the Falcon. They waited with bated breath.

The door opened and out walked Chewie, screaming at them and waving. Everyone laughed. Not too far behind him, Maeve could make out three figures descending the ramp. Her breath caught in her throat. Luke, Finn, and Poe all came into view looking a little worse for wear. Maeve furrowed her brow, feeling the tremors that left the body of the hand that was holding hers. It broke her heart to see Rey’s hesitation about whether or not she should run to Poe. 

Another figure exited the aircraft and Maeve immediately recognized the doctor from the Med Bay, the one who had examined her a few months ago. She could only imagine the surprise on the Doctor’s face when the men decided to go on a mission, her exact reasoning for initially staying back on the parked ship being that she’d had too much excitement and she wanted a break from it.

Maeve released Rey’s hand as the away-team moved nearer and the other Padawan gave her a confused glance. “Don’t let me stop you,” Maeve said softly, an answer to a silent question. Both dress-clad young women stood up, Rey immediately bolting over to Poe who waited with open arms. The two embraced and it was their embrace that made Rose decide that she couldn’t wait another second without extending the same courtesy to Finn. Maeve hung back, near the good ole force-sensitive tree. “You’d never let me down, would you, Buddy?” She muttered to it as she gave it a side glance.

Everything in her fought to run to him, the urge almost strong enough to bring her to her knees. His absence was like a rubber band had been stretched back and now that he was near, it felt like it had been released, pulling her toward him. She looked across the field, anywhere but in his direction, breathing a sigh of relief that Mara Jade didn’t appear to be with him. She absentmindedly stroked her bump, not caring to watch as everyone was reunited. Luke embraced his sister, and once they separated she delivered a sharp smack to his face, the noise drawing Maeve’s full attention at once.

“Oof..” she said to herself, relishing in the aftermath. She was thankful that Leia had the guts to do what she had been wanting to do for weeks.

Maeve watched as Leia cut into Luke, she couldn’t make out the words from where she was standing but she froze like she’d been caught doing something wrong when both Luke and Leia looked in her direction. Before long, he was walking over to where she stood while the others filed inside the house. Rey shot a parting glance over her shoulder and Maeve wondered if her friend was as worried as she was.

When Luke reached her, he stood at least five feet away. Her hands were still rubbing her bump and he had to fight the urge to break eye contact to see how much she’d grown. “If you so much as utter an I told you so, I will murder you,” She finally said, voice cracking.

He moved to step closer to her and she took a step back. “We should talk, how about we go inside? This heat can’t be too good for you, in your condition,” He spoke, voice smooth as velvet.

She knew he had a point, but she didn’t want to concede; and yet somehow, something about the red mark on his face made her want to. It was the hottest day they’d felt during their time on Yavin 4 and the longer she stood there, the hotter she got, even in the shade. Not to mention, she so desperately desired to hear what he had to say for himself.

“Fine,” she replied, watching as he reached out his hand to her. She looked at his metal hand, sucked air between her teeth, and brushed past him to walk toward the house. He shut his eyes and sighed, taking a moment to prepare for what he knew would come next, and then followed after her.

Once indoors, Luke steered her away from the welcoming conversation and laughter of the others, her eyes filling with sadness as she was pulled farther and farther away from the living room that would lead her out towards the outdoor eating area. Luke moved her into the guest bedroom that had basically become her home. He shut the door softly, locking it afterward. She stood quietly, arms folded as he turned to face her.

“I’m sorry that I had to leave you, but you couldn’t have been in more capable hands.”

She scowled at him. His eyes raked over her and he was happy with how radiant, well-rested, and well-fed she looked. 

“How did it go?” She asked, skipping straight to what she cared about most.

He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes straying from her momentarily. “It was as to be expected, and because of that, we have to leave here soon,” he answered hesitantly, still avoiding her gaze.

“You were gone for almost two months and that’s all you have for me?” She asked through clenched teeth, not moving her body even an inch, afraid she would lunge at him.

He brought his eyes back to hers, something amiss with his beautiful blue gaze. “What do you want me to say? That you were right? That I shouldn’t have gone?”

“That would be a start but I know you’d sooner pull your teeth out than say that.” Maeve deadpanned.

Luke glared at her and she knew she was pressing one too many of his infamous buttons. He advanced on her, eventually coming face to face with her displeased expression. “Why did you even go? Did you want to get her back? Did you think you could pick up where you left off, huh?”

Though she knew she should probably lay off of him, something in her was relentless. “Why would you even think that?!” He screamed at her, clearly frustrated that she thought he was that ignorant. He knew that there was no turning Mara back, he knew that the woman he considered his wife had died long ago, and now he had seen it first-hand.

“I-I don’t know, maybe because you so clearly hate me and still love her. You so clearly want nothing to do with me, I clearly repulse you!” If he could scream, she could scream back at him, all the weeks of agony coming back to her and hitting her head on. 

He pulled his robes off, Maeve watching with great confusion. He lifted his tunic and bared the scars that littered his midsection, “Do you think, for even a second, that I could honestly still love a woman who would do this to me?” His anger was dying out and he watched with trepidation as her own started to leave her, the sight of his fresh battle wounds rendering her speechless. 

Maeve gasped, sadness lacing with her words as she muttered, “Well, chit...” 

She reached out to gently caress his slightly raised skin. He didn’t wince, the healing process completely done on most of the scars. He watched her closely, studying her facial features and the way a million emotions came and went. His breath hitched lightly when she moved her hand to some of the lower scars, the ones too close to the hem of his pants.

Luke moved closer to her on instinct and captured her lips with his own. To say that she was stunned would be an understatement. And yet, after a few moments, she kissed him back. When they finally parted she was the first to speak. “I need you,” she said, almost in pain at how deeply she wanted and desired him.

He was hesitant to respond or act upon giving her what she wanted; what he wanted, too. Time away from her had put so much into perspective, and the thought of dying and never seeing her again made his mind a hellish playground.

When he gave her no response, she pulled him by the front of his tunic, pushing him back onto the bed. His reflexes were still as quick as when he was in his prime, so instinctually, he tried to get back up. However, she was faster, pushing him back onto his back, his feet hanging off the bed and planted firmly on the ground. She straddled his lap with less ease than if her stomach wasn’t a protruding thing that hindered her at every turn. 

He looked up at her, eyes blown with lust and it reminded her of the last time they’d been intimate, sending shivers up her spine. This time it was real, they were both flesh and bone and on the right side of the veil. She ground herself down on him ever-so-slightly and he exhaled sharply, his eyes closing and his hands moving to her hips. Maeve repeated the action over and over again, drawing sweet moans from him as she felt his excitement solidify beneath her. Lifting off of him only slightly, she reached down to remove his pants from the part of him that she wanted most in that moment. He moved his hands from her hips to help her, heart racing a mile per minute. 

Grabbing him in her hand, she gave him a few strokes before shimmying down the bed until her feet and then knees met the floor. Luke sat up in search of her, as she knew he would, positioning himself right where she wanted him. She nestled herself between his legs and lowered her head to his cock. Before he could stop her or figure out what she was doing, her mouth was on him. He exhaled sharply and placed a hand on the back of her head as he looked down at her, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

She sucked and stroked him, the sensation foreign to him yet familiar. He couldn’t recall the last time a woman had put her mouth on him, and he didn’t want to; he only wanted the memory of Maeve doing it to be ingrained in his mind. With every movement and every noise that she made, he grew more intrigued by her, barely able to keep his eyes off of her. She moaned with his length in her mouth and the vibrations sent him teetering towards his end. He groaned lowly, his hand gripping her hair and pulling her off of him. She sucked harder on him, just before letting him leave her mouth with a pop. 

Maeve set her seductive gaze onto him, watching his chest rise and fall quickly underneath his tunic. He pulled her up from the floor, kissing her as they both stood to their feet. Moving her hands under the fabric of his shirt, she started to work it up his body so that she could remove it; parting their kiss for a moment to do so. His hands worked their way up her body as their lips met again, pulling at the straps of the dress that must’ve belonged to his late friend Shara when she was pregnant. When he got the dress down far enough, it fell to the floor without a sound, fully exposing her to him.

He turned them around stealthily and moved forward slightly so she’d have no choice but to lay on the bed. She did so with a yelp, watching as he kissed down her neck and all the way to her painfully round breasts. He licked at her nipples, biting and giving each one some much needed attention, and carefully so as not to hurt her. After he was done, he caressed them with his hands, continuing his venture to her bump. He kissed the slightly massive bump as lovingly as he possibly could before moving on to the mound not far below it. Luke moved his strong and capable hands to her thighs and parted them as much as he needed, moving his face closer to the heat that radiated from her like the sun that hit the surface of Yavin 4. He licked at he folds experimentally and she gave off a squeak of surprise; she couldn’t see anything he was doing because of her bump.

More daring the second time around, Luke licked her again, hard and right on the spot she needed  it most. She sighed sweetly, her hands running through his hair as she pulled it and used it to guide him. “Kriff...” she uttered, her body arching in response to his ministrations, quiet moans falling from her lips.

He spent a while exploring her with his mouth, trying to discover what things would make her tick and fall apart for him. Sucking on the tiny nub of nerves between her folds seemed to do the trick he had in mind, sending her over the edge and spiraling into an orgasm. He quickly moved above her to cover her mouth and keep her from making too much noise, her body jerking only lightly as she came down from her orgasm. She was gripping the sheets when she finally finished coming back down from her high. Luke was above her, staring at her in awe. “You’re so kriffing beautiful when you do that,” he said absentmindedly.

She laughed lightly, noticing the way his mouth glistened and the wetness in his beard. She groaned at the sight and pulled his face to hers for a searing kiss, enjoying the taste of her on his lips as she licked him clean. In the midst of all the kissing, she felt his erection bob against her with excitement. She pushed him back onto his back, returning him to his previous position. Swinging a leg around to straddle him, she looked down at him, hand caressing his scars as she rubbed her arousal onto his length. Moans left Luke and they only seemed to fuel her and egg her on, her hand finding his glorious length and stroking it. “Maeve, please...” he said, the frustration in his voice evident.

She lifted up and aligned him with her entrance with ease, sitting down on it and taking him inside her, all the way to the hilt. They both moaned softly, pleasure contorting their faces as they basked in the feeling of one another. “You’re so big,” she whined, moving up and down his length slowly, hoping it’d help her adjust. His hands were clutching her hips and his eyes were shut tight. “Kriff, you... you feel so good,” Luke managed to say in between exhales. He cursed the veil for letting him forget how good it felt to be inside of her; it felt like being thrust into warm and welcoming velvet that wrapped around him tighter the more he thrusted.

The comparison gave him an idea; his hands holding her still so that he could thrust upward into her. That action alone nearly broke her, cries of pleasure falling from her beautiful, pouty and full lips. “Do that again,” she cried softly, her hands tugging at her hair as he continued to thrust into her rhythmically. “Yes...” She cried, joining hands with him for purchase and leverage as she started to bounce on him. It wasn’t soon before their movements became sloppy, in a mad scramble for their release. Maeve was first to tense and cry out in ecstasy, bringing his hand to her mouth to keep her quiet. With the clenching of her walls, Luke was close after, lazily thrusting up into her a few more times as he rode out his orgasm, biting hard at his lip to keep quiet as he spilled inside of her.

“I love you,” he said when he finally caught his breath, startling her as she got off of him and laid alongside him, close as could be even despite the hot air that billowed in through the open window.

His ears were met with silence for a few moments and a part of him feared she had nestled into him and passed out due to heat exhaustion, but then he heard her sigh sweetly. “Lars and Shara,” Maeve finally said in response, her eyes still closed, a content look on her face.

Luke blinked slowly a few times, turning his head to look at her when he registered what she’d said; it wasn’t quite what he was expecting, to say the least. “Excuse me?” He asked, a baffled expression on his face.

“The babies. Lars and Shara Skywalker,” she said, yawning soon after, sleep beckoning.

Luke just watched her as she drifted to sleep, his heart aching as he began to feel overwhelmed by something he didn’t think he deserved; love. 

He had always wanted children, he just never thought he’d have them. He and Mara had tried everything they could but she just wasn’t fertile; he loved her anyway though, despite what she couldn’t give him. That was maybe why he fought so hard against falling for Maeve; everything just came too easily with her, it felt like a trap or like he was getting something long overdue yet underserved. It would take a long time to feel like he actually belonged in their little family, but he would work at it day by day. He just hoped beyond hope that nothing ever took them away from him.


	4. him and i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical influence for this chapter: him & i x g-eazy ft. halsey
> 
> // this chapter is only 7k, it'll be 11k next chapter :)

In her dreams, one thing was always for certain; she never felt safe. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she could manipulate the outcomes into something more peaceful; but even with Luke’s return, the bad dreams had not ceased. In a way, Maeve wondered if The Force was trying to tell her something.

Her dream would always start the same; she’d hear her babies crying and try to run to them down a corridor in a place that felt familiar but she knew she had never visited. Then, as soon as she was about to reach then, she’d be transported back to the night she almost died at the hands of someone she considered her equal; her best friend. Though Ben Solo was two years her senior, they immediately clicked with one another; something about them reminiscent of old souls reuniting.

But on that night, as her dreams so vividly recalled, there was nothing left of the boy she knew.

_He towered over her with a gleam in his eye that showed his soul had been touched by darkness, his saber poised to strike her as she cowered in a corner. Perhaps if she had been more advanced with her training, she would have stood up to him; if she had a light saber handy she also could have tried, but she had been sleeping when the screaming and the fires started._

_“Ben...” she pleaded, voice shaking._

_A part of her was certain that he’d never hurt her, but as she watched him that hope started to slip from her grasp. He had been distant for a few weeks and Maeve’s suspicions as to why were voiced as if on queue._

_“He favors you, you know. But what he doesn’t know is that no matter your bloodline, you will be weak so long as he trains you, all of you,” he spat._

_Luke had taken the time to focus more on her over the past few weeks, and something about it must have made Ben jealous. He was supposed to be the chosen one, not Maeve or anyone else. His parents hadn’t spoken to him in months and then Luke had chosen to carefully instruct another student over him; all of that was enough to let the dark side draw him closer._

_Seeing him be so easily taken over angered her on some level, and that anger emboldened her. “If we’re so weak, then why kill us?”_

_He moved closer to her and she didn’t flinch even a muscle. Before he could fully reach her to attack, someone was running into her sleeping quarters; with a fiery head of hair and rosy red cheeks, Maeve recognized the Jedi right away. Mara Jade Skywalker. “Ben, don’t hurt her,” she said, hands out in front of her so that he knew she wasn’t armed. She slowly approached the two teens, her eyes flickering between the two of them. Ben turned to her, ready to yell and throw a tantrum, possibly even strike her with his saber but she was too quick for him. He only managed to say, “What are you doing here, you’re supposed to be waiting in the-“_

_This part of her dream was new, something she had never remembered happening before. Typically, when she’d have this dream or replayed the memory, Ben would force-choke Mara when she stepped foot into the room. Maeve watched on with horror, simultaneously experiencing her dream and viewing it as an outsider._

_Mara raised one of her hands slightly, it was in a very distinct way that couldn’t be mistaken; she was using a Jedi Mind Trick. “You didn’t find Maeve, in her room, and figured she was such a weakling that she must have already perished.”_   
_Ben repeated the words in a drone-like fashion before leaving the quarters altogether. When he was gone, she looked at Mara with a horrified expression, the red-head raising her hand to do the same thing to her that she had just done to Ben. “Mara Jade Skywalker is dead, Ben Solo killed her when she came to save you. Her sacrifice gave you time to run away and hide beneath rubble,” she said, being sure to convey the words as slowly and clearly as she possibly could. Maeve moved her mouth to say the words, her eyes closing; when she opened her eyes, she was alone._

_Her quarters had started to catch fire and she gathered her belongings and quickly rushed outside to watch with wide watery eyes as everything went up in flames. She was devastated and disoriented as she wandered the site, her feet eventually giving out as she fell to her knees; she’d inhaled too much smoke and walked too far in search of other survivors. Then, she heard a noise, coming from beside her; a man pushing out of a pile of rubble. Her eyes were bleary, but even still she could tell exactly who it was. “Master Skywalker..” she said weakly, a cough leaving her, her head spinning as she laid to the ground and passed out._

Maeve opened her eyes, the sunset shading the room in a way she had never really paid much attention to. A soft orange light filtered in and covered everything, and with the sun going down came the cool breeze of night, billowing through the window and making her shiver a little. An arm was wrapped around her protectively and instinctually pulled her closer to a warm and equally inviting body. Her eyes flickered upward, finding Luke sitting up with a thoughtful expression on his face. She moved a little bit, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and caught his attention. “You’re awake,” he stated, a barely noticeable smile on his face.

She nodded, wondering to herself how long she had been out for. The farther she progressed into the pregnancy, the easier it was for exhaustion to overtake her. “Did I miss anything?” She rasped, sleep still weighing heavily on her. He sighed and shook his head, “Not a thing. The babies were kicking a lot, though, I’m surprised you were able to sleep through that.”

She chuckled a little, “I’ve gotten used to it, I think.” After a moment of watching him, she clutched the bedsheets to her chest and sat up, facing him as directly as she could. “Is this the part where we discuss what just happened between us?” Her voice was soft and devoid of fear, she wasn’t afraid of what he’d have to say about any of it; she was mostly eager to find out where they stood, what all of it meant.

“You talk in your sleep, you know,” he said, shocking her with the sudden change of subject.

She looked at him, her calm demeanor quickly turning to one of apprehension. “Oh really? And what do I say?” She asked, even though she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted the answer.

“You say his name...”

At this new knowledge, Maeve looked completely flustered; her cheeks going red and her eyes averting his gaze. “I..I keep having terrible dreams, about that night,” she managed to say, hoping the divulging of that information would save her from being reprimanded or worse. He reached his hand out to tilt her head up, gently resting his thumb under her chin as he brought her gaze back to him. “I didn’t think it to be anything impure,” he assured her.

She stared deeply into his eyes and then leaned forward to press a soft and loving kiss to his lips. “I love you; only you,” she whispered when she broke the contact between them.

“Good, because after we talk to the others, and before we leave here, we have something that we need to do.”

His words made a lump form in her throat, and she knew almost immediately what he meant. She wasn’t afraid to do it with him, but never in a million years did she think she would have to go through with it. Though her mind was racing and her heart was beating at a freakishly fast rate, she nodded in agreement to his words.

“Let us freshen up and join the others for dinner, we have to brief those of you we left behind.” Before Maeve could protest or say anything else, Luke was getting up from the bed and finding his way into the washroom attached to their guest bedroom. She watched his lean form as he retreated and let out a frustrated sigh, her mind wandering back to the dream she had had. Had that really been what happened that night? And why would the truth finally come to the forefront of her mind, after all that time? She let out a soft huff of frustration, hearing Luke turn on the running water system to fill himself a bath. The bath had probably become her favorite place in the Dameron Household; it was massive and round and she could go relax there when her body ached from the hard work of carrying new life. As she got out of bed, she absentmindedly wondered if all the other washrooms were equipped with tubs just like it.

She stepped lightly, walking into the washroom on her tippy toes. Luke was in the tub already, head thrown back as it filled with hot water; Maeve couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “So, are we going to talk or are you going to evade this conversation for the rest of our lives?” Though she was sure he had heard her, he was absolutely still and at peace in the moment; the calm radiated off of him like heat from an oven.

Finally he responded with, “Get into the tub, Maeve.”

She didn’t need to be told twice, walking over to the tub and carefully sitting down across from him. They had more than enough room to both be in there at once, their legs just barely grazing.

Luke sat up and looked at her, almost expectantly, earning a glare in return. He smiled, truly smiled at her facial expression, and it almost took her breath away. “We are both consenting adults,” Maeve said, trying her best to appear unaffected by him. He nodded his head in agreement to her words but said nothing, and she assumed that meant he wanted her to keep talking. “The part that is troubling is that you are my Master, and have been since I was a girl,” She said, averting her gaze from him and biting her lip; a nervous habit that he took note of many years ago.

“Mara was my apprentice once, too. She’s also younger than me,” he stated, matter-of-factly.

Maeve scoffed, “So, you have a type.”

Luke’s face turned serious. “You are nothing like Mara,” he rebutted, giving her a reprimanding look.

“There are these things called jokes, Luke,” she shot back, voice laced with sass.

He narrowed his eyes at her, a small smile gracing his lips just as he splashed her with water. “Hey!” She squeaked, splashing him back.

The two carried on, splashing each other and laughing, and after they grew tired of their lighthearted antics they just stared at each other. Water was dripping off of both of them, their hair drenched. Maeve was wiping droplets out of her eyes when Luke switched off the valve for the water and sighed heavily. “I just think we need to look at it this way; would we have ever ended up like this if you didn’t go and do the most selfish thing you could have ever done? Probably not.”

His words weren’t meant to sound as harsh as they did, but they still gave Maeve pause. “W-what?” She breathed, heart feeling heavy, not liking the way the conversation was heading so far.

He rushed to save himself, his eyes slightly wide as he amended with, “I’m not blaming you, nor am I upset with you. I didn’t have to go back with you, but I did; we both made a decision to play with fire.”

“I don’t regret any of it,” Maeve said, an edge to her voice that made him sorry he ever opened his mouth.

“I was just trying to say that.. I never expected this to happen. And while I feel deeply for you, it stems greatly from the strengthening of our Force-bond. Surely you’ve thought the same.”

Maeve bit at her bottom lip again, silent in the wake of his newest stab to her heart. “I did think that,” she started, “But with your absence and the growth of your children in my womb, I began to realize that it’s really all of me that loves all of you, it isn’t a trick. What I feel for you is not strictly a byproduct of our Force-bond.”

He looked at her, brow furrowed as confusion fell over him; she wouldn’t look at him, not after her confession, she just couldn’t.

“You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same. That after probably thinking you’d die — for real this time, that you didn’t come to the same realization.” She said, words rushed, a lump forming in her throat as she finally met his gaze, fresh tears forming in her eyes.

He was silent, eerily so. It was so hard for him to tell her how he was feeling, he had denied so much of it since his love for her made itself known. But now he knew she felt exactly the same way, so why couldn’t he just fess up? He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, “I...”

“Kriff, Luke. Why is it so hard to say that you genuinely love me? You have no problems uttering the words after coming down from the throes of love-making, but when we are sitting face-to-face and having a real conversation, you want to try to brush it off like it isn’t real?” Maeve was visibly miffed, her eyes hard as she stared at him, tears streaming down her cheeks only to be aggressively wiped away.

“Okay... I admit it, does that satisfy you? The thought of dying and never seeing you again almost broke me during interrogation and that frightens me. Having someone you care so deeply for is a liability, Maeve, and I don’t know if I can do that again,” Luke said, his words spilling from him like the breaking of a dam.

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly displeased with his reasoning for playing with her emotions. She was certain he would have downplayed their romance until he went to the grave, solely just because he didn’t want to admit to himself that what they had had turned into something real; the thought of that angered her to no end. His absence had brought her so much pain, and he would have so easily brought her agony with his presence had she not called him out on it.

“You’re about to become a father, Luke. You need to get used to the idea that you will be vulnerable. You broke the no attachments rule a long time ago, by marrying Mara, don’t act like you’ve never felt this way before or like you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into,” Maeve spat angrily, starting to wash herself so that she could be done with the task and far away from him.

He hung his head in shame, replying softly with,”I have not ever felt this way before.”

His words made her stop what she was doing, soap suds clinging to her soft brown skin. “You know that I can take care of myself, just as well as Mara can; if not better than she can,” she said, trying to convince him that there was no reason for his worrying.

“Not while you’re with-child, you can’t. You’re carrying two, at that. Do you know that my mother died in childbirth, with Leia and I? If you aren’t guaranteed safety from that demise, how can you even think to reassure me about your safety from the clutches of The First Order?” Luke rebutted, a look in his eyes she had not seen in years; true fear.

“You know something...” Maeve stated, coming to the conclusion almost immediately, almost ashamed it had taken her so long to see it.

Before she could question him more, he was rising from the warmth of the water and retreating back into the bedroom. She rinsed herself off and followed after him. “What do you know?” She asked, holding a towel to her body, practically pleading with him to confide in her first, before he spoke with the others. He turned his back to her as he got dressed into his tunic that had been discarded before their tryst.

She grabbed his arm trying to make him look at her, to talk to her, to do anything but freeze her out. He turned to her hesitantly, eyes meeting hers and practically begging her to not make him divulge such traumatizing information, but he knew he’d have to fill her in eventually so he caved. “They know about you, they sensed a great disturbance when you brought me back and rekindled your connection to the Force. Their suspicions were only confirmed when they got your father to confess that he had hidden your survival from The First Order. He still has a head on his shoulders because he assured them that he thought you weren’t a threat and barely held any talent. He was sent to kill you when you discovered the truth about your brother, knowing you’d rejoin the cause and abdicate the throne to the rightful heir.”

Maeve’s face was devoid of emotion, but her eyes said everything, all at once. Luke had to pause from telling the story, sensing she needed a moment to absorb what he had said so far. “What else?” She asked after a moment of silent reflection.

“They don’t know about the twins, at least not yet, they think that you are just more powerful and advanced now, thus creating such a great disturbance would be easy enough for you to do. Mara was interrogating me to find out your whereabouts, and the whereabouts of The Resistance. I managed to escape and free the others, we spent weeks flying around until we could be sure we had lost them; I didn’t want to take any chances on leading them straight to you. But, it is in our best interest that we keep moving, at least until you give birth.”

Maeve furrowed her brow, looking down at her bump, her hands holding to it protectively, “Are you sure they don’t know about the babies?”

Luke nodded stiffly, “I am certain I would have left Mara’s chambers with one less appendage if she had known.”

Maeve clutched her fists in anger, just the thought of that vile woman touching Luke made her want to break something. “I’ll kill her,” she said, voice trembling as she looked up into his eyes. She reached a hand out to cup his face, her thumb rubbing circles into his cheekbone. “She won’t get away with what she’s done to you,” she said softly.

He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes, longing for the end of the war like never before. “Will you marry me,” he muttered, taking them both by surprise. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a wide-eyed gaze, her hand leaving his face almost immediately. She suspected he wanted to make an honest woman out of her before they left Yavin 4, his not-so-subtle allusion to it just an hour earlier still fresh in her mind.

She never thought she’d get married, she wanted to devote herself to being a Jedi and thought that love was stupid, especially in her youth. When she was a girl, she would have Ben Solo at her side, telling her that they would be just like Luke and Mara when they grew up; a tough duo who lived together in holy union. She would always give him a smirk and tell him he was delusional, but somehow even marrying Ben Solo seemed more realistic than tying herself to Luke Skywalker for the rest of her life.

She gulped as they locked eyes. Just because she suspected this was what he had in mind for them, didn’t mean she expected him to actually propose. She assumed it would be more of a business arrangement than an honest-to-goodness union bound by love. But then again, that was also before she got Luke to confess his feelings for her. “What...” she breathed shakily.

Not getting the gleeful answer he was expecting, Luke furrowed his brow. Though his question slipped out of his mouth in the least ideal way possible, he couldn’t help feeling hurt by the fact that Maeve’s initial response wasn’t to immediately agree to his proposal. She was carrying his children, she had just proclaimed her love for him, was he so insane to think she would want to be bound to him before they left Yavin 4? “I know it’s sudden and... a bit peculiar, to say the least, given our history but—“

“I can’t,” Maeve blurted, cutting him off before he could try to convince her.

“Why not?” Luke asked after a brief pause, voice coming out in a harsh whisper.

Maeve avoided holding eye contact with him, worrying her lower lip with her teeth; she was thinking of the best way to delicately voice her opinions. “We just can’t..” She finally said, failing to really clarify her stance. He raised his eyebrows, the confusion clear on his features as he folded his arms across his chest.

“But if we love each other and you’re carrying my children... I don’t really see reason to wait,” He said, trying to keep his composure, all whilst mentally kicking himself for even letting the proposal slip from him in the first place.

Maeve nodded in agreement, knowing damn well that his logic was sound. Aside from one glaring thing that had visibly shaken her to the core. “You’re technically still married to Mara Jade,” she said softly, still not looking at him. It shouldn’t bother her, for all intents and purposes Mara Jade had legally died, thus breaking their union. But Mara hadn’t really died. Men all across the galaxy had often taken multiple wives, as well, but she couldn’t shake the fact that it felt wrong. The pregnancy, that was wrong too, but it couldn’t be helped; they never intended for it to happen.

Luke stared down at her, a million different emotions playing out in those blue eyes of his. “You and I both know that isn’t a valid reason not to do this.”

“It’s valid to me,” Maeve snapped, almost immediately, finally mustering enough courage to look at him.

Luke clenched his jaw as he held her gaze, an awkward silence falling between them before he said, “Well, I’m not giving you a choice.” His words made her furrow her brows, confusion falling on her beautiful features. “Luke...”

“You’re going to do this, for your own good and for the good of our children,” he said, voice stern and eyes hard. Just when Maeve thought she had brought his sensitive and caring side to the surface, she was always swiftly met with the reprimanding teacher.

He was looking at her, gaze intense until something caused him to waver. He clenched his side and groaned in agony. Maeve stared at him, frozen by her fear. After a beat, she sprang into action and went to aid him, doing a quick check of his vitals. He had an elevated heart rate but, other than that, he seemed perfectly fine. The only thing that she could find amiss was that his hair had gone from mostly greying to a light golden color. If she hadn’t seen it change before her eyes, she would’ve thought she’d imagined it.

“Luke...”

“Shhh... we don’t have time for this.”

And just like that, Luke was back on his feet; almost a little too quickly for Maeve’s taste. Before she could get a word in edge-wise, he was leaving the room, presumably headed to talk to the others.

Maeve felt like she was stuck, towel still clutched at her chest. As the sun set in the distance, she could hear a distinct calling, one she would recognize anywhere. She had to make haste if she was ever going to get to the bottom of what she’d just seen, deciding to throw on an oversized black sweater and some pilot pants; both items having belonged to Shara.

Once she was fully clothed, she tiptoed outside, pilot boots on her dainty yet swollen feet. Luke was preoccupied with the others, enough so that she could sneak around the yard undetected. She figured it would be worth it to try to do something she hadn’t done in months; she was going to channel the force like she had done for Luke. Only, this time, she’d be contacting the man who couldn’t seem to stop calling out to her.

Upon reaching the force-sensitive tree, she sat down in front of it, as comfortably as she could manage in her condition. She wasted no time shutting her eyes and trying to get sole sort of connection, knowing time was of the essence. After a few moments of utter stillness, she was met with the same void of nothingness as before. She expected to find the force-ghost of her grandfather again but, instead of Mace Windu, she was met with the sight of a Jedi she didn’t know; he seemed familiar to her all the same.

“Is it you who has been calling out to me?” She asked, hesitance in her voice as the young Jedi stood.

A thought occurred to her that, maybe she should be terrified. This was a Jedi she hadn’t known during his time on the side of the living, although something about him seemed to resonate with her, his motives for calling out to her could be purely sinister. Then again, the feeling that was emanating from the void was one of peace and harmony. The force-being moved closer to her, a warm smile on his face.

He avoided her question and got right down to his reasoning for requesting audience with her. “As I’m sure you’re aware, something is gravely wrong with Luke Skywalker,” the man said, arms crossed inside his simple robe.

Maeve muttered, “understatement of the century.”

If she wasn't mistaken, she would have sworn she'd seen the force-ghost before her cracking a smirk at her slightly disrespectful utterance towards her master; the father of her children.

"Be that as it may, you have to help him," the Jedi said to her, a stern sharpness to his words that made her almost regret ever responding to the call of the tree.

Maeve sighed, giving a nod of her head, her resolve kicking in as she thought about the life that was growing inside of her.   
"How do I help him?"

The force-ghost stepped closer to her, lightly placing an ethereal hand onto her shoulder as his words came out softly, "You must first come to accept that you may lose him, there may be no saving him."

Her eyes widened at the words the mysterious Jedi spoke, something feeling wrong about their entire exchange suddenly. Maybe this particular ghost didn't have Luke's best interest at heart. "Who are you?" She inquired, voice quivering due to the fact that she was scared to even know the answer.

"That is not of importance, young one," He said to her, making her eyes narrow, because he didn't appear to be much older than she was. However, once you became a force-being, you could choose how you wanted to appear to others. If she lived long enough to die at old age, she would want her force-ghost to be a representation of her in her prime.

Stepping away from the relative stranger, Maeve squared her shoulders and took on an air of defiance, "It's important to me, I can't trust anything you say unless I know who you are. You may be exempt to the laws of the living but I--"

Before she could finish her self-righteous mini rant, her connection to the force was severed, someone pulling her out of her meditative state. She fell back on her butt, landing with a soft thud, expressing her displeasure with a string of expletives. When she looked up from the ground, she expected to see Luke standing there, his stupid face chastising her. But no, it was someone else entirely.

 

* * *

* * *

 

"What in the force are you doing out here?" Poe yelped, chasing behind her as she made her way through the field near his house.

Maeve dragged onward, ignoring him, and for good reason; he ruined possibly her one chance to find out what was going on with Luke. They probably wouldn't be stationed on Yavin 4 for much longer, everything knew that wasn't in the best interest of their survival. She also knew for a fact, she'd never be alone again, therefore shooting her chances with connecting to the force tree straight down to the lowest percentile that existed. If she didn't marry Luke, they'd leave a lot sooner, maybe tomorrow or the next day; the thought of staying longer almost made her reconsider his proposal... almost.

When Poe finally caught up to her, he ran to block her path, hands extended outward to at least stop her for the moment.  
"Are you going to talk to me?"

"No, why should I?" She snapped, brown eyes hard and unrelenting, arms folding over her bump.

"Because we're friends... at least, I thought... I mean, I'd like us to be," He fumbled, his hand going up to scratch the back of his hair, which was growing out far too much. It was then, staring at the nerve-wracked man before her that she realized, with each passing day he would look more and more like his father. She hoped her boy looked like Luke.

With a sigh, Maeve's features softened, "I was talking to a force-ghost, about Luke... I think something might be wrong with him.. I don't really know how to explain it fully." His eyes widened at her words, one of his arms rubbing the other as he mulled over what was said. "Why don't you just ask him?"

She scoffed at Poe's overly simple solution, knowing full well that Luke Skywalker didn't respect her enough to talk to her. Maybe he would have in her youth, but now that she was carrying his children, he insisted on making all the decisions about everything. She couldn't remember the last time they collaborated on anything. Maybe when he helped her escape Haruun Kal, but he knew he'd never see his child if he didn't do that, her mother would have been sure to keep him away while she married her off to the highest bidder.

"He doesn't tell me anything, Poe. I'm not even sure he'd tell you, your father, or Leia if there was something wrong; he'd ignore it," she responded, voice sounding sullen and defeated. He furrowed his brow at her words, wishing he could help or do more, but he knew she was right; Maeve knew Luke better than anyone would like to admit. "And you're sure there's nothing I can do?" Poe asked again, always the gentleman, always the problem solver.

Maeve shook her head, coming to terms with the fact that maybe she couldn't save Luke, maybe it wasn't her destiny. And who was she to combat against something like that, something so much bigger than her? "You could just keep being a good friend? I think that helps a little."

He gave her a rueful smile, closing the distance between them in a warm and welcoming embrace. A few of the others watched the exchange from afar, out on the patio. Rey stopped sipping her fizz, and Luke sidled up to see what she was looking at. His brows furrowed when he spotted Maeve and Poe, embracing in the middle of a field, the suns setting as a backdrop of perfection.

"What are they doing out there?" Rose inquired, walking up to see whatever had kept Rey and Luke from engaging in conversation with the others. Rey turned away abruptly, "Who knows," she uttered, storming away soon after. In the back of his mind, he knew his student was being dramatic, but that didn't stop the ping of envy that ran through him at the sight. After an awkwardly long hug, the two people in question started to make their way over to the patio.

Everyone was aware of what Luke had told Maeve prior, they would all leave Yavin 4, and their feelings were all mixed on the matter. Leia wanted to stay until after the babies were born, her sentiments being that a space birth is stressful on the mother, especially if they were being chased down by Mara Jade and The Knights of Ren. Maeve shared said sentiments, up until Luke chimed in with, "Well, staying her isn't exactly good either, because Mara knows we've been here. Those babies won't take their first breath if we stay."

"Maybe we should just find another planet to lay low, just you and I," She breathed, words so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

He paused, hand mid-air as he was about to continue his rant, but her words caught him by surprise, "And why would we do that?"

She shrugged, playing with a stray piece of fabric on her secondhand shirt, eyes still avoiding everyone else as she passively replied with, "I don't know, as a honeymoon type of thing?"

Poe and Kes simultaneously choked on their fizz drinks.

"You guys are getting married?!" Rose cheered, hopping up from her seat because containing excitement is clearly not something she's good at. Maeve still didn't pay anyone any mind, feeling Luke staring daggers into the side of her head. Poe cleared his throat and thought to intervene, "You're actually getting married?"

At the sound of his voice, Maeve looked up, a small smile on her face as she nodded her head. Their eyes locked and Maeve could sense the hesitance in Poe, conflicted about whether he should be pleased with the news after what she had just told him in the field. Rey was standing close by, leaning against one of the archways that led to the living room, a look of annoyance on her face. Why did Poe suddenly care so much about what went on between Maeve and Luke?

Out of the twins, Leia was the first to speak, Luke probably still too in shock to say anything. He hadn't imagined her denying his proposal, had he? He was most certain she said she'd rather not link herself to him in such a way, even after he said he would force her into binding herself to him, which he never would have.. he was just angry. But suddenly, she was aiming to get a little more time on Yavin 4? Something was definitely amiss.

"So what are your ideas, Maeve?" Leia asked, her hands draping over one another on the top of the dining table.

With deep breath out, Maeve responded, "Well, I think we should do a ceremony here. Preparations will have us busy, meaning a bit more time on Yavin 4 than we planned. But then afterwards, Luke and I can take the ship to another planet, preferably somewhere we can lay low until the babies are born. I feel like if we leave you guys here, you'd be fine, you could hold down the fort. Plus, no one would fight harder to stay here and defend this land than Poe, so it makes sense."

Her newly proclaimed friend beamed at her words, his father clapping him on the shoulder with pride.

"What about a pilot? We could send Chewbacca with the two of you, Luke should be spending all of his time with you instead of preoccupying himself with piloting," Leia chimed in.

Maeve smiled brightly, nodding her head, "I couldn't agree with you more."

Luke sat down and listened to all the planning details, silently brooding inside, and Maeve knew in her heart of hearts that she was in for a rude awakening when they went to bed that night.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

As the door closed to their chambers, Maeve knew she was in deep trouble, especially when she heard the click of the lock being turned. She sat down on the bed, hands folded in her lap, staring at his squared shoulders. Luke was still facing the door, trying to regulate his breathing, all the while Maeve was pretty much none-the-wiser to his inner turmoils.

"What were you thinking?" He asked her, turning to face her directly, starting to undress from his robes.

Maeve watched him for a moment, eyes leaving him as soon as he looked at her again. "I was thinking that, maybe I was being stubborn earlier, and you really are just thinking of what's best for the babies," she breathed, standing to get closer to him, her arms precariously wrapping around him.

A part of her was terrified that he'd uncovered the truth about why she wanted to stay, her eyes and demeanor giving nothing away, but he was wiser than she was and would surely find out if he didn't already know. Their eyes met and something about the exchange assuaged his mixed feelings about everything. "So, what planet should we go to?" Maeve asked, playfully batting her eyelashes at the man who clearly had multiple weak spots for her, whether he was reluctant to reveal that or not.

Luke hummed absently, swaying her side to side ever-so-slightly, a pensive expression on his face. "I was thinking somewhere we can make a lot of noise, without disturbing the locals," He answered, his hands sliding down her back, going to rest at the swell of her ass. Maeve laughed at his words, truly laughed, nodding her head at his forward thinking, "I actually...love that idea."

Before either of them could grasp what was happening, their mouths met. He pawed at her clothing, getting her out of the baggy fabric in record time, his hands roaming the curves and plains of her ever-changing and ever-growing body. Hushed moans and pants filled the room, their needy whines filtering into existence as he moved her towards the bed. She could feel his hard length brushing up against her leg, and she wanted him inside of her more than she could express with any word or action.

When her the back of her legs made contact with the bed, she turned to position him below her, pushing him down onto his back. Luke laid ready for her, his length standing at attention just the way she liked it. Maeve climbed on top of him, positioning herself just right, not really able to wait any longer. As she sank down on him she closed her eyes, earning her a desperate plea as it left his lips. "Look at me," he urged, grabbing onto her hips and thrusting up into her. Her eyes opened and met with his as a gasp left her, her hips moving and gyrating as she sought out pleasure. Prayers and sighs left his mouth and he was almost pushed to the edge, but she was a quick learner and she knew his tells. Maeve slowed her pace considerably, her mind going back to the first time they had joined in such a way-- as it often did-- on the opposite side of the veil. Her hands ran over his chest, which felt more toned than usual, all of his body felt more toned than usual.

After she'd gotten enough of teasing him, she picked up her pace again, chasing her own pleasure as she rose and fell atop his length, feeling all of him in a different way than before. A lot of women would say that every time felt like the first time, but Maeve wasn't naive, she knew something had changed in him; she knew Luke Skywalker like the back of her hand, all of him.

He groaned long and low, clutching her hips tighter to prevent her from slamming down on him like she was seemingly fixing to do. If she kept that pace he'd be a goner, not sure if he could reign himself in even if the last time they had sex hadn't been too long ago. "Please," Maeve whined softly, and he wasn't even sure what she was begging for. Usually he was in tune with her wants and needs in the bedroom, but he was certain he'd spill before she could get her fill, so he had to keep slowing her down. Never had he had that problem before, he was usually the last to spill, if not reaching a climax right as she did.

She ground down on him slowly, but she was pushing him deep inside, so deep he worried about if she could contain the animalistic noised that she usually made when he went that far inside; she was doing well enough, biting her lip to reign it in, so he thought better of stopping her.

Sweat clung to their bodies, their rapid breathing doing little to nothing to help with the scorching heat that surrounded them in their room. Yavin 4 was already uncomfortably hot for the most part, factor in a bout of sex and heavy breathing, you were bound to get overheated. Luke normally grew tired after about ten minutes of strenuous activity, but that night he was feeling more alive. Maybe it was due his slight jealousy and insecurity when he came to Maeve befriending men who were much younger than he was; maybe he felt like he had to compete. Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't go away any time soon, he loved tearing her apart like that.

Her face contorted in pleasure as she rode him, no end in sight to their debaucherous romp. The noises that left her made him feel like he was doing everything right, even though a lot of times he felt inferior to her, especially when it came to bedroom extracurriculars. "Yes, Luke," She cried as he continued to meet her thrust for thrust, pretty sure he was leaving bruises on her hips at that point, neither of them caring.

He groaned her name, feeling her clench around him as she neared her release. It hit her like a tidal wave, nearly knocking the wind out of her as she tossed her head back and silently screamed. He continued his brutal pace inside of her, holding her up even when she was on the verge of going limp, racing for his own climax. When it hit him he saw stars, spilling hot inside of her, still pumping into her slowly as a reflex. His heart felt like it was going to explode, and she quietly felt the same, rolling off of him as they both tried to catch their respective breaths.

"Oh, kriff," Luke says, through unsteady breath.

Maeve lolled her head to the side, looking at him with furrowed brows as her breathing started to regulate, "Are you okay?"

"It would take a lot more than that to kill me, I think," He shoots back, turning his head to observe her too.

She laughed, slapping his shoulder, "You know, you sound less and less sure each time you say that."

A guffaw escapes Luke, his short hair a wild mess as he nods his head, "I do, don't I?"

  
After a nice bath and little to no verbal communication, Maeve and Luke climbed into bed, opting to sleep in the nude because it was so kriffing hot in their room. "Maeve," Luke said aloud, startling her from her place nestled into his side. "Hmm?" She responded, eyes closed and sleep beckoning for her yet again, hoping better dreams awaited her the second time around.

"Do you really want to get married?" He asked, looking down at her as he lovingly stroked her thick and wavy black hair.

She sleepily nodded her head, uttering, "Do I have a choice?"

His heart flew into his throat, surely causing a lump to form there, as he found it difficult to swallow. He never wanted her to feel like she didn't have a choice in the matter, he truly loved her, but he had gone and stuck his foot in his mouth again; a classic Skywalker move. What good was he as a husband or a father if he made her feel like a prisoner?

He sighed.  
Maybe she did deserve someone better.

 

 


End file.
